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LETTER TO COL. WM. L. STONE, 

OF NEW YORK, 

ON THE FACTS BELATED IN HIS 
4 

LETTER TO DR. BRIGHAM, „ ..+ 

AND A PLAIN 

REFUTATION OF DURANT'S EXPOSITION 

OF 

ANIMAL MAGNETISM, &c. 

BY CHARLES^POYEN. $s 

WITH 

REMARKS ON THE MANNER IN WHICH THE CLAIMS OP 

ANIMAL MAGNETISM SHOULD BE MET AND 

DISCUSSED. 

BY A MEMBER OP THE MASSACHUSETTS BENCH. 













M 



t // 3 



y Q f Wash 
BOSTON: 



WEEKS, JORDAN AND COMPANY, 

121 Washington Street. 

NEW YORK; — C. SHEPARD. 

1837. 






Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1837, 

By Weeks, Jordan & Co. 
In the Clerk's Office of the District of Massachusetts. 



Tuttle, Dennett & Chisholm Printers 17 School Street. 






ADVERTISEMENT. 



The reader will probably notice that the philo- 
sophical views expressed in my letter to Col. Stone, 
about the mode of mental communication between 
the magnetiser and the magnetised person, some- 
what resemble what Mr Durant, the late glorious 
exploder of animal magnetism, calls M his theory." 
I must confess that such a resemblance exists ; Mr 
Durant will not fail, therefore, to charge me with 
plagiarism ; he will probably think that I have 
robbed him of the "beautiful product of his genius," 
But I would affirm here, that if any one has robbed 
the " theory" at all, Mr Durant is the only robber. 
What he boldly pretends to be his invention, has 
been for years professed and published in every 
possible shape by the German and French writers 
on animal magnetism. I have myself adopted the 
main parts of this theory ever since I have paid a 
serious attention to the matter ; I have invariably 
devoted two hours and more to explaining it to my 
classes, wherever I had an opportunity of giving 
my whole course of lectures. I have no doubt, 
therefore, that Mr Durant has either read or heard 






/& 



about it ; but as he seems to regard every one be- 
sides himself as a fool, he does not hesitate in pre- 
senting Mm doctrine as a " creation of his own," 
S\ persuaded as he is that nobody will detect the fraud. 

We intend, in some of the following pages, to offer sl\ 

IJwmextract ^ rom -^ r R° stan?s Memoir concerning this 
theory. Those who have read Mr Durant will see, 
on perusing that extract, what an enormous differ- 
ence there is between a truly scientific man and 
an ignorant scribbler, who boldly assumes the privi- 
lege of treating on matters so far above and be- 
yond his capacity. 

I wjll add a word more. My letter to Col. Stone 
was prepared, and I had already lectured most 
of its contents before my class in Salem, even 
before I had heard of Mr Durant's book. Those 
who have attended those lectures, may testify to 
the truth of what I now advance. 

C. P. 



LETTER TO COL. STONE. 



SALEM, MASS. OCT. 9, 1837. 

To Col. W. L. Stone, of New York. 

Sir. — You are aware that the undersigned has been enga- 
ged, for some time past, in lecturing upon the " science of 
Animal Magnetism, in reference to which you have lately 
published an interesting narrative of facts. I trust, there- 
fore, that you will not be surprised at the liberty I take of 
thus addressing you on the same subject. In«my well known 
capacity as a professor of Animal Magnetism, I owe it to the 
cause of truth and of general information to communicate to 
the reading community, the remarks which the facts contain- 
ed in your above mentioned publication have suggested to me. 
I am, moreover, strongly induced to do it from the circum- 
stance that you have particularly alluded to me, and I must 
confess, in no flattering terms, by any means ; some of your 



allusions deserve a frank answer fftowPmy part. Do not be- 
lieve, however, that I shall indulge inany harsh impulse, and 
make this letter a personal concern ! I hope, on the contrary 
that you will find me cool and respectful throughout my com- 
munication with you. 

Feeling, as I do, a lively interest in the progress of mag- 
netism in this country, looking with an anxious, but impartial 
eye upon every thing that is written upon it, I have read with 
much satisfaction your letter to Dr Brigham ; I believe it has 
contributed more than any thing hitherto done, to prepare the 
mind of a great many to a candid investigation of the matter ; 
and on that account, it will mark in the history of the deve- 



lopment of the li science'' 1 in this country ! But, sir, like 
every thing else that emanates from man's hands, it presents, 
to my mind, some defects which I beg leave to signalize here, 
for enabling people to have a more clear and correct under- 
standing of the matter upon which you write. 

Your pamphlet is entitled, lQ A Letter on Animal Magnet- 
ism ;" and yet it appeared to me, on perusing it, that your plan 
was not to ascertain the reality of the peculiar agent or prin- 
ciple called Animal Magnetism. The experiments made by 
you on Miss Brackett, seem not to have been intended to 
throw any light upon the interesting question, viz. " whether one 
human being can exercise an influence over another, by the 
sole force of his will." Such a power undoubtedly exists, 
and it properly constitutes what has been termed animal mag- 
netisrm In the opinion of all truly philosophic men, it has 
always been, and is still considered, the most profound and im- 
portant point of the whole subject. It appears, sir, that you 
were not aware of this fact, and I regret very much that in 
your interview with Dr Capron's patient, you did not direct 
your attention towards eliciting some phenomena with the 
view of demonstrating the reality of the power in question. 
Such results, published by you, would have proved not only 
gratifying to the marvellousness of your readers, but alsl use- 
ful to the science of the psychological constitution of man. 
And I know, that Mi&«®»# affords ample means for estab- 
lishing the point alludea' to, or at least substantiating what has 
already been observed and written upon it. I have myself, 
seen her twice under the influence of Dr Capron and Mr 
Ame. J. Potter, of Providence ; I have found that she was 
exceedingly sensible to the action of the will, and still more 
so to the approach of the magnetiser's fingers towards her 
hands and head, even at the distance of several inches. The 
power of the will, is in my opinion the best ascertained of all 
the magnetic phenomena ! Out of twenty somnambulists, 
eighteen at least, are submitted to it in a very remarkable de- 
gree. 



N 7 



l ~ The extraordinary phenomena produced by that influence 
# \ ^evideErtfyidemonstrate the existence in man, of a principle 
hitherto unknown, and of a force which had not yet been no- 
ticed and exercised ; through them, animal magnetism is rais- 
ed to the rank of positive science, as well as physiology, pa- 
thology and mental philosophy. I am aware that you deny 
this point ; it is surely because you have not yet witnessed 
and carefully studied the effects produced by the will, or the 
cerebral force of man ! 

Your sole object seems to have been to satisfy yourself 
about the faculty of Clairvoyance, or the power of seeing, the 
eyes remaining perfectly closed, even bandaged. The expe- 
riments tried by you, for that purpose, were ingenious and 
well conducted, considering that you had no experience at all 
in the matter you were investigating ; every candid reader 
will acknowledge that the results obtained by you are exceed- 
ingly interesting ; but again, sir, they prove nothing so far as 
the magnetic influence is concerned. The class of pheno- 
mena described in your pamphlet were already known to 
every well read man, as a characteristic feature of the ecsta- 
tic state, of natural somnambulism and certain cases of cata- 
lepsy and hysteria. 

The li possessed nuns" (so called) of the convent of Lou- 
dun, in 1642, the French prophets or trembleurs des Ceren- 
nesj the Convulsionnaires de St.'Medard, and other ecstatic 
persons ; the cataleptic patients of Drs Petetin, of Lyons, of 
Barbier of Cantal, and a crowd of other individuals affected 
with similar nervous disorders (see Rapports et discussions, 
de PAcademie de Medecine sur le Magnetisme, publies avec 
des notes explicatives, par M. P. Foissac, &c; also, Traite 
du Somnambulisme, par Alex. Bertrand) had offered innu- 
merable instances of the faculty of seeing even through what we 
call " opaque bodies," and their eyes remaining shut. The 
same power has been, on several occasions, observed in this 
country, particularly in the w r ell known cases of the Spring- 
field and Hartford somnambulist, in the cataleptic woman of 




8 ^ 

Uxbridge, Mass., who has beern sometime under the care of 
Dr Robbins, and was carefully Examined by Dr^fcS»L, Par- 
sons of Providence, and other distinguished individuals ! 
There is now in the town of Chesterfield, N. H., a natural 
somnambulist, whose clairvoyance is truly astonishing so far 
as I can judge from what I have been told by some very re- 
spectable eye witnesses. 

The faculty of seeing at a great distance and through unu- 
sual ways, is likewise a well established fact in some parts 
of Scotland, under the name of a second sight." A remark- 
able instance of the kind was personally observed in London, 
and related to me by Dr S. G. Howe, director of the In- 
stitution for the Blind, whom no one acquainted with him, 
will suspect of credulity. 

I dp not pretend, I beg you to understand, that magnetic 
or artificial somnambulists do not possess the faculty of clair- 
voyance ; far from it ; I am fully convinced that some of them 
have it in a very extraordinary degree, although it is liable to 
be impaired, and even entirely lost, under certain circum- 
stances, which I need not to mention here. I have seen a 
number of that species of somnambulists who could see ob- 
jects and read several lines through the top of their head, 
their forehead, or the pit of their stomach ; there could be 
no collusion or deception in the case, as the eyes were either 
kept shut by the fingers of another person, or very carefully 
bandaged. I have no doubt, therefore, that some of those 
who are thrown into the state of somnambulism by a magne- 
tic operation possess the faculty of clairvoyance ; I mean to 
say only that this faculty, however remarkable it may be, does 
not prove that one human being can exercise a mental in- 
fluence over another through a peculiar means of communica- 
tion, a fluid, if you please to call it so, moved and directed 
by the will. The faculty of clairvoyance is a natural gift ; it 
is spontaneous and springs from certain peculiarities of organ- 
ization belonging exclusively to the magnetised person ; it 
cannot be given or communicated by the magnetiser, how- 



9 

ever great the energy and activity of his will may be, to a 
somnambulist who does not possess it naturally. Some au- 
thors pretend that this faculty derives from a great accumula- 
tion of the vital fluid in the optic nerve, which gives an ex- 
traordinary delicacy and energy to the whole organ of sight ; 
others think that it is exercised through the medium of a pe- 
culiar fluid, more subtle, nice, and powerful than common 
light, spread throughout the universe and penetrating all bodies 
of nature, however opaque they may appear to be to our or- 
dinary means of vision. It is not my object to discuss here 
the value of these opinions. I will say only that compara- 
tively a few somnambulists have the gift of clairvoyance, 
and that a magnetiser cannot impart it to those who have been 
denied it by nature. 

I now proceed to a few remarks on the character of the 

facts related in your letter to Dr Brigham. I have already , , 

^ said tfyal**ery candid reader can but find them exceedingly <fcQ^\, 
interesting ; yet, I did not intend to say that they prove in a ' 
conclusive manner the reality of the faculty of clairvoyance, 
" so far as the power of seeing at a great distance, is concern- 
ed;" it is on the contrary, my opinion, that Miss Brackett's 
answers to your questions, although surprisingly correct, did 
not demonstrate in the least, that she actually " saw the vari- 
ous particulars described by you, in a place situated two hun- 
dred miles from her !" How can you account for the cor- 
rectness of her answers? will you say, — Do you suppose that 
I meant to deceive ? not at all. — Do you suppose there was 
connivance between us ? neither ! I am going presently to 
tell you how I explain all this. It is a fact well established 
by the daily observation of all magnetisers, both of Europe 
and America, that from the moment a person is put into som- 
nambulism, he becomes capable of appreciating correctly and 
seizing the thoughts, the will, and feelings, not only of bis 
magnetiser, but also of those who are put in close communi- 
cation with-nim. This surprising and very interesting mode 
of knowledge is doubtless imparted to the somnambulist 

2 



10 

through an emanation of some kind, (call it, if you please, 
the spirit, the magnetic or vital fluid) which springs from the 
brain of the two parties and thus forms about them a peculiar 
atmosphere, the fluctuations or movements of which vary ac- 
cording to the direction given by the organ from which the 
fluid originates. The brain of the magnetiser or of the per- 
son placed in communication, is the active instrument or ap- 
paratus, every operation of which necessarily impresses a new 
movement and direction to the fluid, which movement is more 
or less clearly felt by the corresponding analogous organ, viz. 
the brain of the somnambulist, and thus creates herein the . 
same modifications as those which exist in the organ of the 
other party. Such modifications constitute what we call 
thought, reasoning, &c. &c. 

Thes.e views, sir, do not belong to me exclusively ; I have 
no claim on their discovery or invention ; I adopt them be- 
cause they appear rational and bear some analogyj^tepertain^^ 
laws already known of the electric and galvanic phenomena. 
I adopt them besides, because they have been sanctioned and 
openly professed by men of great intellect and high scientific 
attainments, as the German physiologists, Autenrieth and 
Reil, the celebrated de Humbolt, and most of the eminent 
writers on animal magnetism. I will quote here a few lines 
from a distinguished author whose name can^but have a ft ft 
great weight in the mind of every well informed man. 
After describing the manner in which the nervous atmos- 
phere is formed, Dr Rostan (see his Essay on Animal Mag- 
netism, in the eighth volume of the Dictionnaire de Mede- 
cine,) continues thus, " The active nervous atmosphere of 
the magnetiser mingles with the passive nervous atmosphere 
of the magnetised person ; this one is, thereby, influenced in 
such a manner that his power of attention is momentarily 
abolished ; and both, the impressions which he receives in- 
wardly and those that are transmitted to him by the magneti- 
ser, resort to his brain through another channel.^ 

< c The nervous agent possesses, like caloric, the faculty of 
penetrating through solid bodies ; a faculty which is, doubtless, 



11 



limited ; but can satisfactorily explain how somnambulists, 
may be influenced through partitions, walls, doors, &c. also 
it accounts for their perceptions of the savorous and odorous 
qualities, through certain bodies, which in the natural state 
cannot be penetrated by those particles. The innumerable 
facts which prove in an indisputable manner that the magnetic 
action can be exercised through solid bodies, and that the 
presence of those bodies does not prevent clairvoyance, com- 
pel us to admit that the nervous or magnetical agent must pass 
through them. This is no more astonishing than light pass- 
ing through diaphane or transparent substances, electricity 
passing through the conductive bodies and caloric penetrat- 
ing all sorts of bodies. The mingling of the two nervous at- 
mospheres affords a very clear explanation of the communi- 
cation of the wish and will, even of the thoughts of the 
magnetiser to the magnetised person. The wish and will, 
being " actions of the brain, this organ transmits them to the 
circumference of the body through the channel of the nerves, 
and when the two nervous atmospheres happen to meet each 
other, they are so much identified as to form but one ; both 
individuals become one only ; they feel and think together ; 
but one of them (the somnambulist) is constantly under the 
dependence of the other, while in the magnetic state." 

In the natural state we are not capable of feeling the fluid 
above mentioned and experiencing its various movements, so 
as to become conscious of it ; it is surely because in the na- 
tural state the vital energy is thrown too much outwardly ; 
the life of relation is then predominant and constantly keeps 
our power of attention and feeling upon external objects ! 
But through the profound change determined in the functions 
of the nervous system, during the state of somnambulism, 
catalepsy, or ecstacy, we are enabled to hold, with a being or- 
ganized as we are, a communication more or less perfect, 
according, of course, to the respective inward organic dispo- 
sitions and capacity of the two parties. Indeed somnambul- 
ism and ecstacy are particularly characterized by a suspension, 



12 

for the time being, of the life of relation, whereas an inward 
sense, deriving from a great concentration of the vital energy, 
seems to be developed. 

It is not, Sir, the object of this letter to expose the philosophy 
of animal magnetism ; I content myself with setting down in 
eneral terms, only such principles as are needed for a cor- 
rect apprehension of my critical remarks. Whether my 
theory be rational or not, people will judge ! for myself, I 
care but little about it ! I wish only to establish facts, and to 
give them their proper value. Now, I hold it to be a well- 
authenticated fact, that the will and thought can be communi- 
cated without the aid of language or sign, whatever the medi- 
um of that communication may be ; out of fifty somnambulists, 
you will find upwards of forty who will present this order 
of phenomena to a certain degree ! I have seen, produced 
and read innumerable instances of it ; therefore, I believe it 
as much as my own existence ; I believe it, also, because I 
can account for it through philosophical principles, as I 
have above briefly stated. On the contrary, the faculty of 
seeing things that are transpiring at a great distance, "in 
cities, for instance, where the somnambulist never was in his 
life, the situation and peculiar distribution of which he does 
not know and perhaps never read about," is wholly incom- 
prehensible, and is not, indeed, substantiated by good author- 
ity ; I have never observed nor ever read any instance of it 
in the scientific authors who have written upon animal magne- 
tism and so ui.ambulism. I eas y conceive and am willing 
to admit, that certain somnambulists and ecstatic persons 
have been able to see objects at a distance, but it was "in 
places where they had been, and the exact situation of which 
they previously knew ;" they had, thus, the means of direct- 
ing their faculty of vision through the country, and take cog- 
nizance of things and persons more or less accurately, accord- 
ing to the extent of this power in them. But it is totally 
inconceivable, that they can see equally well in places, about 
which they have no previous correct impression in their 



13 

mind ! Suppose yourself a somnambulist, gifted with a high 
degree of clairvoyance. How could you distinguish one par- 
ticular house or street out of the immense variety of streets 
and houses which form the cities of Paris, London, New 
York, &c, if you have never been in those places, or ac- 
quired by reading a perfect idea of them ? 

I am perfectly aware that numerous facts, exactly similar 
to those related in your pamphlet, have been observed by 
other gentlemen in the city of Providence and other places ; 
but for all of them I can account in the same way ; viz. 
through the faculty that somnambulists possess of compre- 
hending the thoughts and feelings of those who are put in 
close communication with them ; — in other w r ords, of expe- 
riencing in their brain the modifications existing in the same 
organ of the other party. This being the most rational and 
scientific mode for explaining the above-mentioned pretended 
phenomena of clairvoyance, I adopt it sooner than to believe 
that they can see in the wonderful and wholly inexplicable 
manner of which we have been speaking. 

I will presently quote a few instances of the communication 
of thought and of the influence of the will, whic i a e very 
well calculated to illustrate the correctness of my views, — 
and are not less wonderful and conclusive than those describ- 
ed in your narrative. 

" The phenomena of the communication of thought and of 
the influence of the will were the first that were observed by 
the Marquis of Puysegur, when he discovered the state of 
somnambulism. In the very interesting letter written by him 
to some friends of his, immediately after witnessing those 
singular effects in the first somnambulist he had, he says, c I 
obliged him (Victor) to move a great deal on his chair, as 
though he was dancing by a tune, which by singing mentally 
only, I caused him to repeat aloud.' " 

Fournier, in his Essai on the probabilities of Magnetic 
Somnambulism, dwells principally on this phenomenon, as 
being the most common and important. He says, page 48, 



14 

that u he saio a somnambulist, r whom he willed to get up 
and take a hat laying on the table in the entry, and to put it 
on the head of a certain person of the company." I did not 
speak a word, says he, but only made a sign which traced 
out the line which I wish the somnambulist to follow. I 
must observe that he had a bandage over his eyes all the 
time ; he rose from his chair, followed the direction indicated 
with my finger, approached the table and took the hat which 
was laying on it, among many other objects, and .... put 
it on the head of the very person I meant. 

I might quote a large number of such facts from foreign 
authors on magnetism, of undoubted veracity and merit ; but 
I prefer to refer to some of the same description, which have 
occurred in this country, as being probably more interesting 
and trustworthy to the American reader. 

At one of my exhibitions in Pawtucket, some nine months 
ago, a medical gentlemen from Providence handed to me a 
bit of paper, upon which this sentence was written : " Ask 
mentally to the somnambulist how far it is from Pawtucket 
to Providence." I put the question to her, without either a 
sign made or a word spoken : after some effort of attention, 
she answered distinctly, "four miles from one bridge to the 
other," which is the correct distance. 

At another exhibition in Boston, I was requested by an 
eminent gentlemen then present, to " will the somnambulist 
to rise from the sofa upon which she was sitting, and to go 
and take another seat ;" I stood about twelve feet from her, 
and mentally put her the command. She shook her head neg- 
atively, as though she was refusing to do something. I then 
asked her why she did shake her head so : u You want me 
to move from my seat; I don't want to." In reference to 
this fact, Mr William Jenks of Boston, who had witnessed it, 
says in an article inserted by him in the Recorder of Feb. 17, 
1837, u Farther and more strange to our experience, while 
the eyes of the somnambule continue closely shut (the experi- 
ments have been tried too with bandaged eyes,) and while no 



15 

' gesture or sound is used,' I saw the 'magnetised ask the 
'magnetised' a question, (suggested on the spot, and secretly 
by a bystander,) and heard the c magnetisee' answer audibly 
and correctly." 

A scientific gentleman, who attended the experiments per- 
formed in Pawtucket by the Rev. Mr Daniel Greene, told 
me that at his written request, Mr Greene willed u that a piece 
of apple, which he held in his hand, would become a chestnut 
burr for the somnambulist." He, in consequence, handed it to 
her, and immediately she begun to scratch her hand and com- 
plain that it was full of prickles. u What is the cause of it ?" 
"Why, you give me a chestnut burr." Mr Greene, it is 
well known, has made himself celebrated in Rhode Island for 
the wonderful power that he exercises by his will only upon 
his patients. 

Mr George Wellmarth of Taunton, related to me the fol- 
lowing admirable instance of communication *of thought that 
occurred under his own operation. He was requested by a 
witness to " will his somnambulist to quote Byron's well 
known song, the ' Isles of Greece.' " Mr Wellmarth men- 
tally pronounced the first verse, and Mr Andros,* the som- 
nambulist, starting from the last words repeated by the mag- 
netiser, recited the whole song. Mr Wellmarth ct willed him 
again to recite another passage ; he said that he did not know 
it by heart, but that he knew where it was in the book, and 
would show it to him. Indeed, the somnambulist got up, 
walked towards the library, with his eyes perfectly shut, took 
the volume, and afterUooking over it awhile, pointed out the 
precise verses that had been indicated to him." 

Innumerable instances of the same kind might be offered. 
I will mention a few more ; the two following took place last 
night, in presence of forty of the most respectable citizens of 
the city of Salem, Mass. A young lady of the place was put 
intofthe magnetic sleep by*a member of my class, Dr Fisk, a 
surgeon dentist. " A tumbler of water was presented to the 

* An intelligent and amiable student in medicine, at Taunton, Mass. 



16 

operator, with the c written request that he would turn the 
liquid into brandy for the somnambulist. ' The tumbler was, 
in consequence, handed to her ; she drank some of it ; and 
being asked what it was, she exclaimed apparently in dis- 
pleasure, c it is rum. 9 A moment afterwards, the magnetiser 
was again requested to spill a little of the water upon her 
hand, willing it to be 'hot rum.' So he did, and immedi- 
ately the somnambulist began to move her hands and wipe 
them against her gown. Being asked what was the matter, 
she said that some hot rum had been dropped on her 
hands." 

A person under my care, being in the magnetic sleep, a 
medical gentlemen passed me ten or twelve grains of aloes, 
contained in a paper, and requested me by writing to " will 
it to be sugar for the somnambulist." Aloes is known to be 
an exceedingly bitter drastic. The somnambulist tasted it, 
and exclaimed, " it is beautiful." I asked her what it was. 
" Confectionary sugar," said she, and then swallowed a 
tongue full of it, with apparently much pleasure. But soon 
the medicine acted on her stomach, and she became quite 
sick. 

On another evening, her eyes being blindfolded, a bunch of 
white grapes was held over her forehead by a gentleman of 
the company. I asked her what it was. " It is a bunch of 
white fruit," said she. "Well, what is the name of it ?" 
" I do not know ; I cannot remember it." Then I looked 
at her, and mentally articulated the word "grope," willing her 
to repeat it. Instantly she shook her head, signifying that 
she understood me, and repeated aloud, " it is a bunch of 
grapes." 

The faculty of understanding the thoughts and will of those 
who came in communication with them, was likewise remark- 
ably developed in the ecstatic somnambulists, 1st. the " pos- 
sessed nuns" of Loudun, the French Prophets or Shakers of 
the Cevennes, the Convulsionnaires de St. Medard, &c. 
This phenomenon was so common and striking, that it was 



f 



17 

considered as the first proof of the reality of the possession, 
inLcase of the ecstatic nuns of Loudun. " They could reveal 
the most secret thoughts." These are the very words used in 
the Juridic informations concerning that celebrated affair. 
Even some of the possessed persons had the extraordinary 
gift of understanding all languages. Although ignorant, they 
could answer correctly questions, in Latin, Greek, German, 
&c. even in the dialect of some tribe, which one of the visi- 
iters had learned during a residence in America. This last 
fact proves indisputably, that during the very peculiar state 
of the nervous system, caused by religious exaltation, or the 
magnetic operation, the human brain acquires the power of com- 
prehending the thought and the will, in whatever language 
it is expressed. I had a somnambulist under my care in this 
country, who could obey my volitions, even when I mentally 
expressed them in French ; although she did not know a 
word of that language. Indeed, the act of thinking and will- 
ing is performed every where in the same manner by the 
brain, however different the languages of men are ; it is the 
thought and the will that the somnambulist seizes, and not the 
words mentally pronounced. 

Now, Sir, from the foregoing facts, and a thousand others 
of the same nature, which it would be too long to quote, I 
will propose to you this question. If such a ''perfect sym- 
pathy" can be established between the brain of a somnam- 
bulist and that of another individual, so as to enable the 
former to receive in his own mind the impressions and ideas 
which are formed in the mind of the latter, — is it not more 
rational to think that Miss Brackett saw through your mental 
influence, the pictures that adorn your parlor, rather than to 
admit that she went in spirit to New York, and saw them 
there with her immaterial eye ? 

That which confirms my opinion on this point is, that Miss 
Brackett can be very easily influenced by the mind of those 
3 



18 

who are put in direct communication with her. Besides 
various proofs of the power of his "will over this somnam- 
bulist," afforded to me by Dr Capron, I will quote a striking 
instance which came under my personal observation. This 
fact shows that Miss Brackett is capable of apprehending the 
thought, not only of her magnetiser, but also of any one else 
put in communication with her. One afternoon, while Miss 
Brackett was under the magnetic influence, Mr A. Potter of 
Providence, and myself stepped into the room and sat at some 
distance from the somnambulist ; I must state that she did 
not expect our arrival, and that Mr Potter had never seen her 
before. After some moments had elapsed, Mr Potter asked 
Dr Capron whether he had ever tried any experiments on his 
patient by his will alone. The Doctor said he had not, 
and did not know whether such experiments would succeed in 
her case. Mr Potter then begged to be put in communica- 
tion with the somnambulist, to which Dr Capron readily 
assented. Mr Potter seated himself near Miss Brackett, 
and, without uttering a word, presented to her a small slice 
of an apple. She took it with both hands, as though it was 
something heavy, and, on tasting it, said that it was a slice 
of melon. Mr Potter had willed it to be so. He took 
back the same piece of apple from Miss Brackett's hands, 
and, without speaking a word, by a mere action of his mind, 
turned it for the somnambulist into four or five different arti- 
cles in the space of two minutes. There could be no decep- 
tion in the case, as Mr Potter had never before seen Miss 
Brackett, and as experiments of this kind had never yet been 
tried on this sbmnambulist. How did Miss Brackett know 
the taste that Mr Potter meant to give to the slice of apple ? 
She must necessarily have been actually influenced by the 
action of his brain ; she must have apprehended his thoughts. 
Such is, indeed, the clearness of a somnambulist's mind on 
some occasions, that he will seize with a wonderful accuracy 
the most complicated image or impression existing in the 



19 

mind of the person in communication.* The well authenti- 
cated facts I have quoted in the preceding pages, demonstrate 
forcibly this point. 

Now, was it more difficult for Miss Brackett to see your 
pictures through the influence of your mind, than to appre- 
hend so correctly, and at the very first attempt, Mr Potter's 
will ? Are not both instances alike ? Are they not equally 
surprising ? You must remember, indeed, that those pictures 
were engraved on your brain, and that in directing the som- 
nambulist to look at them and take them down, the one after 
the other, they presented themselves still more vividly and 
distinctly to your mind. As you already felt some interest 
in Miss Brackett, you " wished very much that she could see 
them :" therefore, their impression was carried forth into 
your nervous atmosphere, mingled with the somnambulist's 
atmosphere, and thus transmitted to her brain or thinking and 
imagining 'organ. 

You will probably observe, that Miss Brackett mentioned 
several particulars which had no trace at all in your mind, 
and which, on inquiry, you found to be correct. For in- 
stance, in walking through the " College Green,'* 1 she re- 
marked that " there was one of the trees which was decaying, 
and should be cut down and taken away." She also said, 
that "there was nobody living now in the first wing of the 
college, that the house was empty," &c. I can assure you, 
Sir, that these particulars were mere suggestions of Miss 
Brackett's imagination, and do not prove that she actually 
"saifl" the objects mentioned by her. I have carefully ob- 
served a large number of somnambulists ; I have read also a 

*A writer in the Baltimore Commercial Transcript, Oct. 14, 1837, says: 
' That in many cases of somnambulism (he had seen twenty, at different periods,) 
the very ideas, no matter how erroneous, of the magnetisers, were imbibed and 
expressed by the subjects, leaving no doubt of the influence possessed by the ope- 
rator, who certainly transmitted his very thoughts, — how? I cannot say, but I 
know the fact. One I have seen daily for several years in that state, hardly 
under the influence of the magnetiser, but still wandering to subjects that had 
been for years his study, and repeating verbatim his theories." 



20 

great deal about the peculiarities of mind during that state. 
From my reading and personal observations, I have acquired 
the conviction that even the most lucid somnambulists, are 
often dupes of their own imagination, exactly as we are, all 
of us, of our dreams during the natural sleep. For this we 
can easily account, when we know that somnambulists expe- 
rience the same effects, both mental and physical, from a 
falsehood as from a reality. They are liable to be so com- 
pletely deluded, thas it is sometimes very difficult for the 
magnetiser to make them become conscious of their errors. 
Being thus mentally constituted, their faculties of attention 
are entirely absorbed by the object which occupies them, 
whether true or not. They feel, speak, and act, and take 
as animated a part in a visionary scene as though it was real. 
But that which characterizes the dreams or visions of som- 
nambulists, is the perfect consistency existing between the 
various parts of them. It is surprising to see how minute 
they are, how careful to place each particular in its proper 
place. 

This being the case, you understand that we should be very 
attentive to distinguish, in the description and narration of a 
somnambulist, what is the mere product of imagination, and 
what is an actual fact of clairvoyance, in regard either to ex- 
ternal things upon which their attention is directed, or to in- 
ternal impressions resulting from modifications of their own 
system! I now return to Miss B.'s case. Imagining or 
dreaming from the impulse she had received from your 
mind, that she was really walking through an avenue of trees, 
she noticed, as a person would do in the natural state, 
that one of those trees was decaying and should be taken 
away ! A somnambulist feels indeed, that among a great 
many trees forming an avenue, it would be extraordinary that 
one of them at least should not be older than the other^ and 
even injured in some of its parts ; he knows that our large 
cities are full of mischievous fellows, always ready to mar, 
tear and destroy every thing they meet in the streets or on 



21 



public places. All these circumstances presented themselves 
at once to Miss Brackett's mind, connected with the idea of 
the green. It is not surprising therefore, that she made a re- 
mark which coincided with what was u a fact.'''' But al- 
though correct, it is not sufficient to convince me that she 
saw the trees, as her remark might have been only a " happy- 
guess." The same may be said of what she told concern- 
ing the absence of the president of the college ; you had al- 
ready observed to her that it was vacation time, and she con- 
sequently drew the inference that the president and his family 
were gone to the country, on a visit to their friends, &c. 
Every body knows, indeed, that it is customary for the offi- 
cers of our" public institutions to employ the vacation time in 
travelling and restoring their health, &c. 

Somnambulists are generally so ingenious, consistent and 
particular in their descriptions, that I would have been sur- 
prised if Miss Brackett had omitted to make trie above men- 
tioned remarks. As to the pictures described by her, she 
could not possibly have guessed at them, as they were 
most of them, of a very rare and peculiar character. Some 
unreasonable skeptics pretend that you were fool enough to 
whisper about the room, and even tell aloud to Dr Capron, 
what those pictures were! — others suppose that the gentleman 
who called at your house, with a letter of introduction from 
Providence, had been sent to spy your movements, and in- 
vestigate the contents of your house, &c. Such conjectures 
are but contemptible, and I pity the poor brains and narrow 
hearts from which they emanated. I do believe that Miss 
Brackett became aware of the existence and nature of those 
pictures by her admirable somnambulic faculties ! she "saw" 
them through your own mind ; although she very honestly 
pretended to see them in New York. I will terminate these 
remarks by repeating that I have, as yet, neither seen nor 
read a single fact, (not even in the notes inserted at the end 
of the two first parts of Mr Hartshorn's translation of De- 
leuze) which is capable, after a mature examination, of con- 




22 

vincing me that a somnambulist can transport herself in spirit, 
where she never was in her life, and see what is transpiring 
in places about which she had no previous correct idea, I do 
not, however, reject the thing as utterly impossible ! For, 
do I know all that is possible ? I merely say, that such a 
thing is wholly inexplicable and cannot be referred to any 
philosophical principle whatever, like all the other magnetic 
phenomena. I will, therefore, deny this miraculous clair- 
voyance, until I have abundant and conclusive proofs of its 
reality ! 

You will ask perhaps, whether I believe in clairvoyance at 
alL ? Yes, I believe that some somnambulists can see in a 
very remarkable manner, their eyes being perfectly shut and 
independently -feea*^ a mental action of the magnetiser ! I 
believe, that in* a high state of lucidity, they can see what 
is transpiring in the adjoining rooms, or even in a neighboring 
town, where they had previously lived or resided some time* 
I had, in my practice, numerous and indisputable proofs of 
this power ; I have read also many striking instances of it 
from very scientific sources. These phenomena moreover, 
can be accounted for, either through an unusual increase of 
energy and delicacy of the organ of vision, or by admitting 
the existence of a peculiar fluid penetrating all bodies of na- 
ture, and affecting in an equal manner the various parts of the 
brain and the nerves which emanate from it. If such a fluid 
exists, it appears that the human system is not always equally 
susceptible of perceiving it, for the faculty of clairvoyance is 
often diminished and sometimes entirely lost. 

Such are, Sir, my views on the facts related in your letter 
to Dr Brigham. I do not pretend that they are absolutely cor- 
rect ; I am satisfied about them ; but others may find them 
erroneous, and many will probably reject them ! They will 
think it just as wonderful that a somnambulist could read a 
person's mind, as to see certain objects at a distance of two 
hundred miles ! But let them compare the facts related in 
your work, and those I have mentioned in the preceding 



23 

pages; they will surely find a striking analogy between them, 
and see that they can be explained in the same way, viz. 
through the philosophical principles I have presented. 

After all, although your experiments with Miss Brackett 
were not especially intended and calculated to ascertain wheth- 
er the agent called " Animal Magnetism" exists or not, yet 
they come, for me, to the same final result ; they demon- 
strate, in my opinion, that one human being can exercise an 
influence over another, by the sole force of his mind, and that 
the thoughts and impressions of one human brain can be 
transmitted to another without the aid of language and signs. 

I trust, Sir, that you will not mistake the intention of the 
foregoing remarks. My object has not been to criticise only, 
but to call your attention to an order of phenomena, viz. 
c< the influence of the will and the communication of thought ," 
which are better calculated than any other, to prove the re- 
ality of the animal magnetic principle or agenU I hope that 
you will pursue your investigation of the subject and conduct 
it in a proper manner, that you may be able, at a future pe- 
riod, to crown the work you have so well commenced, by 
communicating to the world the results of your further ob- 
servations. In waiting for that moment, I now most heartily 
congratulate you for what you have so far done to forward the 
cause of truth. The courage and independence of mind with 
which you have proclaimed your opinion in regard to a mat- 
ter, as yet, so little understood, so generally denied and ridi- 
culed, are truly praiseworthy. You have proved that you 
comprehend, and do not fear to practise the duties which your 
profession of editor devolves upon you, viz. to be an impar- 
tial observer of the manifestations of the time, and to enlight- 
en the public mind about them. Animal magnetism will un- 
doubtedly prevail, notwithstanding the furious and blind op- 
position which is now made against it. Then your exertions 
in the defence and propagation of truth shall be duly appre- 
ciated, whereas your sneerers will be in their turn sneered at 
and despised for their conceited ignorance and ungenerosity. 



24 

But, Sir, while you seem to have been so earnest to do 
justice to animal magnetism before the public, you have been, 
I must confess, singularly hasty in forming an opinion, and 
very careless in the manner in which you have expressed 
yourself about the character and conduct of the man who has 
been for nearly two years, struggling to introduce the subject 
in this country. I read in your letter to Dr Brigham such a 
sentence as the following ; " I pray you not to write me 
down as a believer in the charlatannerie of Mesmer and Des- 
lon, or as a disciple of Mr Poyen, or as an encourager of the 
other strolling dealers in somnambulism, who traverse the 
country, exhibiting their l sleeping beauties' 1 as lovers, not 
of science, but of gain." 

Thus, I am, in your opinion, a charlatan, a dealer in som- 
nambulism, whose sole object is gain, &c. 

Now, I ask you from what source did you derive your in- 
formation concerning me. Did you believe yourself sufficient- 
ly authorized from mere appearances and the vulgar attacks 
of some of your brother editors, to pronounce so decisive 
and severe a judgment upon a man with whom you had no 
previous personal acquaintance, and whose acts never afforded 
an evident ground for reproach ? Did you not feel, in writ- 
ing down this judgment, as though you were doing wrong to 
a fellow creature, and forfeiting to the fairness, soberness and 
charity which are becoming of a christian mind, of a philoso- 
phic and earnest searcher after truth ? And, besides that, 
how could you have allowed yourself, in a publication of a 
serious character, to indulge in such a sneering and trifling 
way of writing, as is manifested in the word ci sleeping 
beauties and others." I have never exhibited any " sleep- 
ing beauty ;" and Miss Gleason, to whom you have probably 
alluded, never had any pretension to be any thing of the kind; 
on the contrary, she already bears on her face and whole 
system the marks of the power of those unmerciful destroy- 
ers of beauty ; age and sickness. 

It seems to me, Sir, that before venturing to pronounce an 



25 



unfavorable judgment upon a man's intentions and conduct, it 
would be but just and prudent to look previously for proper 
information. It would have been easy for you to obtain 
some concerning me, during your visit in Providence. I am 
pretty well known there. Rev Dr Wayland, Prof. Chace and 
Caswell ; Rev Messrs E. B. Hall and Farley ; Dr Crocker, 
have conversed with me ; most of them have attended my 
lectures. They have thus been able to form an opinion of 
my character and education. They might have informed 
you whether I am, or not, moved by purely selfish motives, 
whether I have or not manifested any love for science 
and philanthropy. I have now in my portfolio a letter of in- 
troduction from Dr F. Wayland, to Rev Dr Day and Prof. 
Silliman of Yale College, that would do honor to any man. 
Drs Brownell and Capron might also have furnished you with 
the means of forming a correct and impartial opinion. I had 
considerable intercourse with them ; they had the opportunity 
of observing the tendency of my mind, and my way of treating 
and propagating animal magnetism. I might, in a word, if I 
deemed it worth while, refer you to a great number of other 
individuals belonging to the most respectable and literary 
classes in New England. But it is, sir, a painful thing to 
any writer of common sense and delicacy, to be compelled 
to speak of himself, in the view of vindicating his character, 
and it is with the utmost reluctance that I have undertaken 
here, to justify myself from the offensive allusions con- 
tained in your letter to DrB. I would not have done it, 
had I not considered it a duty to remove, as much as I can, 
the prejudices and wrong impressions entertained of me, for 
the sake of the advancement of the important subject which 
it has been my lot to lecture upon in this country, and to 
which my name is particularly attached. It is in that view 
that I take the liberty of presenting to you the written opin- 
ion of a few distinguished gentlemen concerning my charac- 
ter and conduct. These gentlemen have seen me often, and 
are well qualified, from the acquaintance they had with me, to 
4 



26 

judge of my course and intentions. A letter of introduction 
given to me by Saml. H. Jenks, Esq. of Nantucket, to Thom- 
as G. Woodward, Esq., editor of the Connecticut Herald, 
commences thus : " Give rne leave to introduce to your friend- 
ly acquaintance Dr Ch. Poyen, for whom I entertain the pro- 
foundest esteem and respect ; esteem for his philanthropic 
virtues ; respect for his learning and devotion to science. * 

#m. Ji. 3t> «afc jj. «u» «ifr 

*7T 7v *7v* "tY" 'TV "*v It* 

A more intimate acquaintance with Dr Poyen will strength- 
en your attachment to him. He has been abused by many of 
our # * # * brethren, who call themselves editors." 

From the above mentioned letter of President F. Wayland 
to President Day and Prof. Silliman, I extract the following 
lines : 

" Pr Poyen has resided some time among us in Provi- 
dence, and I have every reason to believe him an intelligent, 
amiable and philanthropic gentleman. As such I beg the favor 
of introducing him to your acquaintance." 

In an article on animal magnetism, inserted in the Boston 
Recorder of February 17, 1837, by one of the most intelli- 
gent and learned [gentlemen of the city, you will find these 
words : 

u How disgusting is the tone some journals assume towards 
Dr Poyen, and how vulgar their abuse ! Since I have known 
him, he has sustained a high intellectual and moral character ; 
and the object of these few remarks is to induce those of like 
character to unite with him in classifying these phenomena, 
fixing their relations to the great body of science, and fol- 
lowing out and popularizing their medical and psychological 
uses." 

The following paragraphs are extracted from an article in 
the Providence Journal, July 20th, 1837, by Thomas C. 
Hartshorn, Esq. translator of the Deleuze : 

" Had Mr Poyen come among us in his true appellation, 
as a marquis of the old regime, and not in poverty, he would 
have found a thousand ready to fall down and worship his 



27 

title, and to attribute to himself all the distinguishing traits of 
nobility, where he finds one now who is willing to be pleased 
with the truly gentlemanly feeling which is inherent in him, 
and with the learning which he is not ostentatious in dis- 
playing. 

" Mr Poyen demeaned himself in society in a modest and 
unassuming manner. There was no arrogant pretension to 
superior skill or power. On the contrary, he expressly 
stated in his lectures, that others who were there present, 
might possess it in a much higher degree. He seemed anx- 
ious to impress a conviction on the minds of his auditors of 
the great advantages of it as a curative process. He stood 
by the bed of the sick, and instructed several gentlemen of 
the faculty and others, in this and the neighboring towns, in 
the mode of procedure, and they were more successful than 
himself in producing the desired results. He received no re- 
compense from those persons whom he instructed, except what 
they may have paid for tickets of admission to his lectures. 
And, finally, as a triumphant vindicatiq^ of his character from 
the charge of imposition, the magnetic practice in this city 
has been attended with such decisive proofs of its therapeutic 
virtues, that no man of character here will venture to gainsay 
the assertion, under the authority of his own name. 

" Mr Poyen's exertion in the cause, and the fact of his 
being a pioneer of it in New England, demand a public state- 
ment of these truths, so honorable to him." 

Such is the opinion of those who have conversed with me, 
.and observed my course and character. 

You have not treated Mesner and Deslon with any more 
justice and propriety than you have done me. Instead of 
referring to the opinion of the prejudiced, superficial and time- 
serving editors of periodicals and to the authors of cyclopedias, 
about those distinguished men, I would beg you either to 
read their works, if you can procure them, or to see what 
the virtuous, judicious and learned Deleuze says concerning 
them in his " Histoire Critique du Magnetisme animal," Vol. 
L ch. 1, and Vol. II. ch. 1 and 2. 



28 

If you desire more information concerning me, I would beg 
leave to refer you to a work just published, entitled " Animal 
Magnetism in New England ," in which I give a faithful ac- 
count of the manner in which I became interested in the 
"science," and of the course I have pursued to establish it 
in this country. 

I will now finish this letter by a few remarks on the re- 
proach which you have addressed me, of being " a lover not 
of science, but of gain." I assure you, sir, that if I am at 
all moved by the " love of gain," I am far from possessing 
the art of gaining. You would, yourself, acknowledge this 
to be the fact, should you have a chance of investigating 
the contents of my purse. I will even dare to affirm, that 
very few, nor perhaps yourself, would have persevered as I 
have done, in the troublesome and difficult task of lecturing 
upon animal magnetism in this country for so little pecuniary 
compensation. 

But, when a man is accomplishing a useful object, when he 
is qualified to carry it \jout faithfully and honorably, is it not 
equally unjust and unphilosophical to charge him with being 
moved by motives of gain ? Who will ever engage seriously 
and perseveringly in any work of some importance, without 
a strong hope that he shall be rewarded for it ? and what 
can this reward be, but money, that is to say, the means 
of supporting himself and enjoying the comfort of life ? 
In the present age, and in this country especially, we 
find very few icorshippers of pure glory. No one, in 
our days, is wild enough to seek fame and glory at 
the risk of wearing rags, living upon air, and dying in an 
attic. The present generation are all thirsting for the wa- 
ters of the golden Pactole ; money is the vital element of 
society ; it is the vast and vivifying source from which the 
heart draws sensibility ; the brain, intellect and power of 
combination ; — it is the mighty lever by which the hand of 
industry erects splendid buildings, digs up canals, con- 
structs railroads, builds steamboats and packets ; finally, ac- 
complishes all that is necessary for the material welfare of so- 



29 



ciety. God has icisely endowed: man with acquisitiveness ; 
this faculty, when properly balanced by a due proportion of 
benevolence and conscientiousness, is capable of yielding as use- 
ful and glorious results as any other passion of human na- 
ture ! The extraordinary prosperity of the United States, 
and their high station among civilized nations, illustrate strik- 
ingly this truth. 

It is time, therefore, that we should cease to reproach a 
fellow creature with the use of a faculty inherent to the hu- 
man organization, and so necessary to bring about the designs 
of the Divine providence in her temporal government of so- 
ciety. The love of gain, the cc sacra fames auri," is general; 
it inspires the preacher of the gospel, the healer of human 
infirmities, the ruler of the people, as well as the humblest 
mechanic and farmer. The u priest must live upon the altar," 
is a proverb which is applicable to men of all professions in- 
discriminately. 

If you reproach me, Sir, with being a u dealer in somnam- 
bulism," the same reproach might be addressed to you. In- 
deed, I have heard many a one insinuate that your pamphlet 
was a mere money concern ! People observe that you might 
just as well have published your observations in two or three 
numbers of the Journal edited by you, rather than to make 
a pamphlet for sale. Myself, I pay no attention to such sup- 
positions ; I am pleased to think that you have been moved 
by the pure love of truth. But, supposing that you had any 
pecuniary object in view, I would still thank God for having 
organized you in such a manner as to compel you to come 
forth publicly and fearlessly, in support of a noble and im- 
portant truth, for the sake of satisfying your u acquisitive- 



ness. 



7? 



As far as a man seeks gain without departing from what is 
right and honorable, he cannot be blamed ; but, from the mo- 
ment he sacrifices truth, conscience, and his duties towards 
his fellow creatures, to a base appetite for money and the sel- 
fish gratification of his exuberant vanity, he renders himself 



1 



30 



It 



contemptible and can no longer be considered as a safe mem- 
ber of society. This last trait, Sir, establishes a broad differ- 
ence in the mind of the well thinking part of the community, 
between the talented writer of the " letter to Dr Brigham" 
and the impudent, self-conceited and vulgar scribbler who has 
just enlightened the public with an li Exposition or a new the- 
ory of Animal Magnetism." 

I am, Sir, respectfully, yours, 

CH. POYEN. 









REMARKS 

ON 

THE CAUSES OF FAILURE 

IN THE 

ANIMAL MAGNETIC EXPERIMENTS ; 

INTENDED AS A 

REFUTATION OF C. F. DURANT'S EXPOSITION 

OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM, 



I jffovL d consider it a wicked waste of time and labor to 
enter into a minute critical examination of this libellous pam- 
phlet. I am satisfied that it carries its full refutation with it- 
self ; I would, indeed, challenge any person of education, of 
common delicacy and power of discrimination, to read it with- 
out experiencing throughout its perusal, a perfect disgust for 
the coarseness of the style, the vulgarity of thought and man- 
ner exhibited in it. I shall not, then, for the present trouble 
my mind about it. 

The object of the following remarks is particularly to re- 
solve some difficulties which seem, at the present moment, to 
bear hard on the public mind, and which are calculated, I 
must confess, to retard the advances of magnetism in this 
country, should they not be promptly removed. If, more- 
over, the explanations that I propose to give, are deemed sa- 
tisfactory, Mr Durant's assertions and the pretended experi- 
ments related in his book slasikhave no more weight in the .* iArts£JLj 
eye of the reading part of the community than the gas with 
which he was wont to swell his balloons. 

Let us come to the point. People say, u If animal mag- 
netism is a matter of facts the reality of which can be ascer- 



32 

tained by actual observation, why do we hear so many con- 
tradictory reports from those who have witnessed the experi- 
ments ? why is there such a difference of opinion concerning 
the alleged facts ?" 

These are the questions which the present state of things 
requires of me to answer in a peremptory manner. 

I must, in the first place call the attention of the philosophi- 
cal reader to a very important point, viz. the respective 
grounds upon which those who have reported in favor or 
against animal magnetism, have based their judgment. 

In looking over the history of this " science" in Europe 
and America, we are struck with the fact that all those who 
have written " ex professo" in support of Animal •Magnetism, 
were, or still are magnetisers. They have themselves re- 
peatedly and carefully performed the operations on a great 
variety of individuals; — and what is remarkable, noneoftthose 
who have thus given a fair practical trial to the subject have 
remained unconvinced, although they were formerly decided 
skeptics; none have pretended that the claims of the science 
were not founded on reality. This is the history of all the 
magnetisers of Europe and America. Now, from the rank 
occupied by those individuals in society, from their education 
and well known character, we cannot suppose either that they 
have deceived the people, or that they have suffered them- 
selves to be imposed upon. Therefore, the facts by which 
they were convinced must have been of a positive charac- 
ter, that is to say, evident enough to satisfy skeptical and en- 
lightened minds. 

When, on the other hand, we inquire of the motives upon 
which the opponents of animal magnetism have based their 
opinion, we find that none of them say that they have them- 
selves magnetised, and acquired from personal experience, 
'the conviction of the falsity of the doctrine. They all reject 
the claims of it, either on the ground that it is contrary to the 
laws of nature, &c. or because a few experiments they have 
seen tried on persons magnetised by others in their presence 



33 



■ 



''\\ 



have failed ! Such is the position of the enemies of animal 
magnetism. 

The preceding remarks partly explain, in my opinion, 
why contradictory reports have always been in circulation 
concerning the magnetic phenomena, and why there is such 
a difference of opinion respecting their reality. Those who 
have witnessed or themselves produced conclusive effects, 
are thus led to espouse the cause of the science ; those on 
the contrary, who have seen failures only, deny its reality 
and, without looking farther into it, remain satisfied from those 
failures that what they have heard about it cannot be true. 

From what has just been said, a plain inference follows. 
In order to become convinced of the truth of magnetism, it 
is not sufficient to see and " scrutinize" a few experiments 
made by other people ; it is necessary to perform the opera- 
tion oneself a number of times and on a variety of subjects. 
No one has a right to deny the reality of the phenomena and 
r eject the statements made by other respectable persons until 
he has given this patient and unprejudiced trial to the matter. 
Indeed, I would candidly ask whether it is philosophical to 
base one's judgment upon one or a few failures ? It is ad- 
mitted that negative facts cannot overthrow positive ones. If 
on witnessing some magnetic performances, we meet with 
failures only, are we sufficiently authorized to conclude that 
the experiments have never been successful ? for, how could 
so many intelligent persons who advocate animal magnetism, 
have been satisfied of its reality and value, if they had not ob- 
tained conclusive results ? 

Here, another question of importance presents itself. — 
Why do the magnetic experiments succeed so well at times 
and fail completely at other times ? The reason is simple 
enough ; because these experiments are performed under 
different circumstances, some of which are highly favor- 
able, and others contrary to their success. Thus far, 
there is nothing surprising. The chemist, the natural philo- 
sopher, the physician, &c. know that the experiments attempt* 
5 



34 

ed by them often fail, and that they fail either because the 
materials used were not in good order and of a proper qual- 
ity, or because certain circumstances which the operator had 
not foreseen and provided against, have unfortunately taken 
place. Such failures are easily accounted for by the profes- 
sor of the science or the physician, and people make no diffi- 
culty in accepting his apology ; they say, " the experiments 
have not succeeded today, for such or such reasons; but they 
will probably succeed better tomorrow, &c. All is for the 
best !" People do not retire discontented ; they do not ex- 
claim, imposition! deception! nothing in it ! &c; because 
they are perfectly aware that the chemist, or the professor 
of electricity cannot concert a plan with their apparatus : 
they are aware that brute bodies cannot connive with any 
living* being to deceive mankind. But, with respect to the 
magnetic experiments, it is altogether different. If they suc- 
ceed, the skeptic says, it was a plan skilfully concerted, or 
if they fail, he retires indignant, considering the whole as a 
wicked imposition, &c. Why so ? I regret to say, it is be- 
cause people are aware that the animal magnetic experiments 
are performed on, and by, a human individual, viz., by, and 
on beings that are capable of conniving together to deceive their 
fellow creatures. On witnessing these experiments the pub- 
lic do not reflect, and they appear not willing to grant, that 
their success depends also on cc the proper state and quality 
of the materials used, and on certain other important circum- 
stances without the presence of which the required and usual 
effects cannot take place. 

The materials, as we figuratively call them, are the brain 
and nervous system of the magnetiser, and the brain and ner- 
vous system of the person magnetised. These are the two 
pieces or elements, as Georget calls them, of the magnetic 
apparatus. One of these two elements is active, the other is 
passive ; the influence emanates from the former, and is re- 
ceived and felt by the latter. But in order that the desired 
offects should be properly manifested, it is necessary, indis- 



35 

pensable, that a perfect equilibrium should exist between both 
elements. The operator's brain and nervous system must 
exercise its action in a regular , even, and constantly strong 
manner; at the same time, the brain of the person operated up- 
on must find itself in a state of perfect calmness and tranquil 
sensibility, in order either to feel the intended effects of the 
action directed upon it, or to exhibit the phenomena which 
may belong to the exercise of its own activity and power, in- 
dependently from the magnetiser's influence. Every thing 
therefore, that will disturb the normal order of either or of 
both elements of the magnetic apparatus, will destroy the re- 
quired equilibrium, and the experiments must fail. 

There is one point, in all this, which I desire the reader 
to bear clearly and constantly in his mind ; it is that 
the human brain and nervous system are not brute, inani- 
mate objects ; they are not, for instance, like the electric 
machine, the galvanic battery, &c. They are the most com- 
plex, nice, organized and living instruments. They are there- 
fore, submitted to the action and reaction of infinitely more 
numerous causes than any other object in creation. They are 
(and we should expect it to be so,) infinitely more suscepti- . 
ble of changes and modifications than any scientific machine 
or apparatus that can be devised and made by man's hands. 
We know besides, that the complication, delicacy and modi- 
fiability of organized bodies vary according to the degree 
which they occupy in the scale of life. A plant is more com- 
plex and modifiable than a crystal ; an animal of a lower or- 
der is more complex and modifiable than a plant, &c. Now, 
how much more complicated, delicate and changeable, is the 
organization of man than that of all other living beings. Be- 
sides all the physical causes that are acting continually on 
him, as well as on other animals, man is submitted to another 
continual source of actions, reactions and modifications, 
which is within himself. I mean his own exquisite sen- 
sibility and his passions. Now, let us reflect that the brain 
and the nervous system are the seat of sensibility and of pas- 



: 



36 

sions; let us reflect also, that it is from the same organ that the 
magnetic influence emanates, and that they are the instruments 
principally used for magnetising. How then, can we be sur- 
prised at the variety of results obtained, and even at the 
numerous failures that are met with in the practice of animal 
magnetism? If the chemical, electric, galvanic, &c. experi- 
ments fail often, although the laws of electricity and chemis- 
try are comparatively simple and few, it is but natural that 
animal magnetism, the laws of which are not yet well appre- 
ciated, and which is subjected to a great many causes of vari- 
ation, should present still more numerous failures. 

The circumstances either favorable or contrary to the suc- 
cess of the experiments in animal magnetism must be, of course 
different from those attending the experiments made on and 
with Unorganized bodies. They are peculiar to the nature 
and capacity of the agents employed, viz. the human brain 
and nervous system. Those circumstances are numerous, so 
delicate and profoundly hidden that it. requires a long expe- 
rience, and the attentive reading of the best authors, united to 
an acute power of observation, comparison and discrimination, 
to know them all and appreciate them properly. This 
constitutes, therefore, a branch of knowledge that compara- 
tively very few magnetisers possess when they commence 
practising, especially in this country, where there is an almost 
absolute deficiency of books and written instructions on the 
subject. Being thus involved in complete darkness about the 
causes that are calculated to favor or disturb the magnetic ac- 
tion, they can but meet with failures whenever they venture 
to expose their somnambulist and themselves to circumstances 
different from those under the influence of which they have 
performed successful experiments. The magnetic power 
being natural to man, and the means of using it exceedingly 
plain, it becomes thus very easy to almost any one, to pro- 
duce the phenomena which are known to take place under 
such operation. But in this case power is not science. The 
person who just begins to magnetise may be able to obtain 



37 

wonderful effects, and yet be utterly incapable of understand- 
ing both what he is doing, and the causes which have made 
his experiments succeed. He does not perhaps suspect that 
those experiments are liable to fail, and even sees not why 
they should fail, as he does not yet appreciate the nature of 
the agents used in the operation, and has not learned through 
experience and study that those agents are susceptible of a 
great many modifications. Thence the numerous failures 
which have given rise in Europe, as well as in this country, 
to the contradictory reports which people have heard, and to 
the difference of opinion which is existing about the reality 
of the magnetic phenomena. 

In order to convey a clearer idea of what I mean, I will 
present a few cases of the failures to which I am alluding, as 
they generally occur to those who commence the practice of 
magnetism. Let us take for example, one of the magnetis- 
ers mentioned in Mr Durant's book. I will show how this 
beginner will, from mere ignorance, create failures on his 
way, and thus expose himself and his somnambulist to be con- 
sidered as impostors by some uncharitable and equally ig- 
norant skeptics. 

Mr C. hears of the wonderful effects of what is called 
animal magnetism and he wishes to obtain them himself ; he, 
in consequence, magnetises a person well known to him, ia 
whom he has confidence, say his friend, his sister, even per- 
haps his own wife. The success is complete ; at the first 
attempt, he throws the subject into the magnetic state ; he is 
already in amazement at his power; he repeats the operation 
and succeeds in producing the first phenomena of somnam- 
bulism; his admiration and enthusaism are still greater. He 
decides to invite a couple of friends, well known both to him- 
self and to the subject of his experiments. Mr C. in pres- 
ence of these friends feels the same confidence as he had 
when alone ; he is at his own house, pursues his own course, 
and acts from the impulse of his own mind, — the experi- 
ments succeed again to the satisfaction of all present, for, so 
far, the circumstances are favorable to the operation. 



38 

But Mr C. already wishes to convince more people, say 
two or three influential persons; he invites them to see an 
exhibition. They come with high expectations, but unfor- 
tunately the experiment fails; Mr C. cannot even put his pa- 
tient to sleep ; how, and why ? he cannot tell, for he does 
not know that he was too anxious to succeed, and that his very 
solicitudes have disturbed his nervous system and prevented 
both in himself and in his patient the degree of confidence 
and regularity of action necessary to produce the required 
effect. Among those invited, one or more were, perhaps, 
entire strangers to his subject, and Mr C. does not yet know 
that the presence of strangers agitates a somnambulist and 
that such agitation is contrary to the success of the operation. 
The persons who had been called to witness wonders, retire 
disappointed, and say that poor Mr C. was deluded, &c. 
After they are gone, Mr C makes a new attempt and suc- 
ceeds very well ; and it cannot be otherwise, for the causes 
of disturbance exist no longer. 

After magnetising his patient ten or twelve times, always 
successfully, and in presence of several friends, Mr C. again 
invites some strangers. This time he succeeds in producing 
sleep. He then pronounces the subject to be in a profound 
sleep from which nothing, not even the discharge of a park of ar- 
tillery, could arouse her. Indeed, the bystanders make noise, 
shake, pinch and prick the sleeper, without producing any 
apparent effect. Mr C. also pretends that she hears nobody 
but him, for, in the preceding sittings he has observed that she 
never answered any one else. He then tries, from his own 
impulse and according to his own fancy, a few experiments to 
test the power of the will. They are perfectly successful. 
Another experiment, more complicated, of which he never 
thought before, is suggested to him on a piece of paper ; he 
hesitates, doubts, feels anxious for the result ; he tries, how- 
ever, and of course, fails ; and it could not have been other- 
wise, for this experiment did not spring spontaneously from 
his mind, and he did not try it with sufficient confidence in 



39 

himself, therefore the action of his brain could not be clear 
and regular enough. Two or three similar suggested experi- 
ments are tried again, with no more success, for the magne- 
tiser having failed once, is afraid of failing again, and such 
fear will prevent him from succeeding. Do not we often see 
a stout, robust man, knocked down by a man of feebler mus- 
cles ? Why ? because he is a coward. On witnessing such 
failures, what will the persons invited think and say ? Some 
will think that there was a concerted plan, others will say 
that Mr C. is a visionary man. 

Again, another experiment is performed on the day follow- 
ing, in presence of several individuals, among whom is found 
a thorough and ungenerous skeptic, who has conceived some 
idea that the somnambulist is practising deception, and has 
resolved to detect the trick. This skeptic will manage an ex- 
periment like this : he writes on a piece of paper, " Will this 
pencil case to be a melon," and passes it to the magnetiser; at 
the same time standing near the somnambulist, he will say 
aloud or simply whisper, but so as to be heard, " Mind what I 
wrote on the paper, will this pencil case to become red hot 
iron?" and even before the somnambulist has felt any action 
at all from the magnetiser 's will, (for it generally takes long- 
er to feel the will, than to hear,) she exclaims, u Oh ! oh ! 
you burn me, &c." Indeed it unfortunately happens that this 
subject is one of those whose sense of hearing, although deaf 
to any other kind of noise, is open to the human voice, no 
matter whose voice it is. She therefore caught the skeptic's 
words, and .taking them in earnest, acted in consequence. Mr 
C. is stupefied, he begins himself to think that the patient is 
not asleep, and is feigning, &c. Indeed, as he had observed 
that she never noticed the questions of any body besides him- 
self, he candidly supposed that she could not hear, for he does 
not yet know by experience or reading, that there are certain 
somnambulists who, although they hear what people say, yet 
imagine honestly and strongly, that they ought not to answer 
any body but the magnetiser, because they have heard while 
awake and before they were magnetised, that somnambulists 



40 

generally speak with their magnetiser only, and with no other 
person, unless they are willed to. Now, if Mr C. had ex- 
perience enough, and had read the best authors, he would 
know that certain impressions, those particularly referring to 
magnetism, that are made on a somnambulist's mind, and while 
in the wakeful state, act most powerfully on their imagination, 
when in the magnetic sleep. But let Mr C. recollect all the 
successful experiments he has privately tried on his subject, 
without a word spoken or a signal made, when there could be 
no possibility for deception, and he will be convinced that his 
somnambulist is in earnest, and that it is not probable that she 
would attempt to feign such a state ; Mr C. then will infer 
that a person in the magnetic sleep is not always deaf; that it 
is, in consequence, necessary to be very careful not to speak 
aloud* about what is going on ; that every experiment with 
such somnambulist should be performed without a word of 
any sort uttered in their presence. Mr C. will learn also 
that it is very important to ascertain by proper experiments, 
whether a somnambulist hears others or not, in order that he 
should not positively assert before strangers that she does not 
hear at all, &c. 

Again, having been told that after a person had been suc- 
cessfully magnetised a number of times, the manipulations 
usually employed in the beginning to produce the magnetic 
sleep, became useless ; that a steady look, with a firm will, 
were sufficient to cause the same state to take place, Mr C. 
tries that new method and with the greatest success ; — he re- 
peats the experiment again and again, and always successful- 
ly, even in the presence of other people ; indeed, his subject 
has been so often magnetised by him, and is so completely 
under his control, that she cannot help going into somnambu- 
lism when he wills her to. Now, among the persons present, 
there is a shrewd skeptic who doubts the sincerity of the som- 
nambulist. He takes Mr C. into the entry and requests him, 
in a whisper , to sit and look steadily at the patienVs face with- 
out willing any thing at all. Agreeably to the suggestion, Mr 



41 



I 



C. takes his position and looks at the subject ; soon she ap- 
pears drowsy, and within three minutes she is, to all appear- 
ance, fast asleep. They try her in the usual ways and she re- 
sists all the trials with an inconceivable courage and without 
flinching once. Indeed, she is really in the somnambulic 
state. Mr C. is surprised; he cannot account for it ; what ! 
is she feigning again ? Mr C. knows indeed, that he has not 
willed her to sleep ; but he is not yet aware of the wonderful 
power of imagination on those persons who have been repeat- 
edly subjected to the action of animal magnetism. If he had 
experience enough, or if he had read the best authors on this 
subject, he would know that this singular, unaccountable and 
powerful agent which is commonly called imagination, is ca- 
pable of producing the same effects as the real magnetic in- 
fluence exercised by another person. He would know, in- 
deed, that what we call imagination, is the magnetic force or 
power of the spirit of each individual, acting independently 
from the will; he would know that the magnetic operation 
has a great tendency to increase the natural activity and ener- 
gy of the imagination in those upon whom it is practised, to 
such an extent that the least impression, on those persons' 
minds is sufficient to cause the state of somnambulism to take 
place. When Mr C. is informed of all this, he will beware 
of acting on his subject's imagination, in order to obtain results 
of a positive character, and not to expose himself to be treat- 
ed as a fool, and his innocent somnambulist to be considered 
as an impostor by ignorant and skeptical witnesses. If 
any one inquires whether all the phenomena attributed to ani- 
mal magnetism are not the products of imagination, as the 
above mentioned fact authorizes us to suppose, I would an- 
swer that I have directed my attention particularly towards 
resolving this difficulty, and that I have acquired the strongest 
possible evidence that there is a power besides imagination, 
deriving from the exercise of the will of one individual over 
another, and which is capable of producing both the magnetic 

sleep and all the phenomena of somnambulism. This is my 
6 



42 

experience, and it is corroborated by that of thousands of 
other magnetisers, (see the Report of the Royal Academy of 
Medicine of Paris, 1831 ; also the Experiments performed 
by Dr Dupotet, at the Hotel Dieu, in 1820, &c.) Of the 
existence of this power, Mr C. can satisfy himself at any 
time, by magnetising his subject through a partition wall, and 
when she is not at all aware ofiohat is going on. Most of the 
magnetisers of this country have already made such experi- 
ments with the most perfect success, and they have been con- 
vinced by them, of the reality of animal magnetism. But it 
appears that they have not yet observed that imagination can 
produce the same effects ; let them satisfy themselves about 
this power, and they will surely come to the same conclusion 
as I have, that what we call imagination, is the genuine mag- 
netic force, or the power of each human individual, acting 
independently from the will. The state of somnambulism 
elicited under the influence of mere imagination is not gener- 
ally so regular and profound as that which is produced by the 
will of the magnetiser, but it is real notwithstanding ; any one 
can convince himself of it by trying the usual experiments, 
such as willing various things without either a sign or a word 
spoken, &c. The somnambulist will show that she is evi- 
dently affected by such mental action. But I repeat, mag- 
netisers should beware not to act on their subject's imagina- 
tion before strangers who are ignorant of the matter, because 
the sleep produced in that way is liable to be imperfect, and 
it may happen that all the subsequent experiments will be very 
unsatisfactory. 

I now leave Mr C, and will finish these explanations by 
extracting a few more instances of failure from the practice 
of Mr A., another beginner, an equally ignorant and shallow 
observer. Mr A. has made a great number of experiments on 
his somnambulist, in whose honesty he has the greatest con- 
fidence, as she is the most intimate friend of his bosom, his 
own wife. He has so far obtained wonderful results, and has 
been fortunate enough to satisfy a good number of his friends. 



43 



As magnetism is a subject of general curie-sty and interest, 
and as his own business is for the present rather poor, Mr A. 
takes a notion to make a fortune by exhibiting the magnetic 
phenomena, for money. He knows very well that he is ut- 
terly ignorant of the science, that he can neither account for 
the extraordinary effects produced, nor explain one of the 
failures that may take place, &c. But the thirst for gold per- 
verts his judgment and silences the cry of his conscience. 
Having succeeded well at home, he flatters himself that he 
will succeed equally well in a strange city, and before a large 
promiscuous assembly. He does not see why he should not, 
for he has not yet reflected on the nature of animal magne- 
tism, and is not, moreover, capable of understanding the pro" 
perties and structure of the agents used in the operation. He 
starts then, for the city of New York, anticipating the most 
brilliant results. Among his visitors in New York, is a sel- 
fish, double-tongued, vain fellow, who, at first, conceives the 
idea of associating with Mr A. to make fortune in common, 
but on perceiving the ignorance and simplicity of Mr A. this 
shrewd fellow despairs to make any thing of pecuniary con- 
sequence with him ; feeling also that in the present state of 
universal and warm excitement existing on the matter, it 
might prove more profitable to oppose, and if possible, ex_ 
plode the science than to advocate it, he boldly takes it into his 
conceited brain that the whole is an imposition, and forms a 
mighty plan to expose it before the world. But he avoids 
telling any thing of his intentions to Mr A. On the con- 
trary, he carefully keeps him in the belief that he is still his 
friend, and is seriously thinking of helping him along. This 
malicious fellow pretends that he has invented a profound 
and scientific theory that will account for all the phenomena 
of magnetism, and will infallibly secure to Mr A. a prompt 
and immense success. Among the experiments which he 
suggests, there is one, which if it succeeds, will establish 
beyond all dispute and cavil the correctness of his theory, 
and thereby prove the reality of animal magnetism, and make 



44 

Mr A.'s fortune as certain as though he had already got it in 
his purse. " This experiment," says he, " cannot but succeed, 
it must succeed, for it is founded on the well known analogous 
laws of nature. It consists in cutting off the magnetic cur- 
rent producing somnambulism, by interposing a sheet of tissue 
paper between the magnetiser and the person magnetised. 
This tissue paper is pretended to be a newly discovered and 
very rare substance, which has the extraordinary property of 
neutralizing the effects of common mineral magnetism, and as, 
in the views of the ingenious fellow, mineral and animal mag- 
netism are alike, the cerin (so called tissue paper) must of 
course neutralize also the effect of animal magnetism.* 

Mr A. and his wife, poor simple people, who suspect noth- 
ing of the infernal and absurd trick played upon them, swal- 
low the whole at once ; their imagination is full of it ; they 
become infatuated with the new theory, and they propose to try 
the experiment immediately ; Mrs A. sits in her rocking chair, 
persuaded that no effect is going to follow, and wishing strong- 
ly that none should be produced. The cerin or tissue paper 
is placed before her face ; Mr A., sitting at some distance, 
looks at his wife for a few moments and tries to will her to 
go to sleep. But how can he will such a thing, when he so 
eagerly wishes that the contrary should take place ;-^-when he 
is so profoundly impressed with the idea that his will can 
have no effect in the present case ; when finally, he fears to 
exercise his will, as he knows that his sweet dreams of for- 
tune would vanish away as a bubble of soap, should any effect 
be produced. Under such mental circumstances the experi- 
ment proposed by the profound and acute minded fellow could 
not but succeed : indeed Mrs A. could not be put to sleep. 
Now reader, is it'.not evident to you that the inventor of the ad- 
mirable theory above alluded to, has shown in the said expe- 
riment his asinine ignorance, as well as a ridiculous vanity and 
a base malice, instead of acting like a man of common sense 

* This experiment is taken from Mr Durant's book. 



45 



and feeling. Indeed, could this fellow will himself to sleep, 
when at the same time he strongly desires that sleep would 
not touch his lids, for fear that a robber would introduce 
himself into his room and steal away his money? Could he 
will himself to loalk, when at the same time he ivishes to stay 
still, and is fearful that if he gets up he shall break his leg at 
the first step ? Why then, did he so improperly act on Mrs 
A.'s imagination ? why did he place Mrs A.'s brain between 
two opposite forces ? This theorician, who claims for so much 
science, shows yet that he is not even aware of the simplest 
law of nature, viz. when two equal forces are acting in a direct- 
ly opposite sense to each other, no motion is produced. This 
law is applicable to moral as well as physical forces. 

Again, the same fellow impresses on the mind of poor Mr 
A. and Mrs A., that owing to his theory, which is calculated 
(we must remember) to yield a large fortune to them, there is 
and can be no such thing as clairvoyance or power of seeing, 
the eyes being closed. Of course, Mrs A.'s imagination be- 
ing perplexed on this point, she cannot see when she is asleep ! 
She fails or gives wrong answers to almost every question 
which is asked her. And the reason is plain enough. It is 
because she imagines she cannot see ! Every sensible man 
will easily conceive this. There are other reasons why Mrs 
A. and other somnambulists have failed in the experiments 
made by the judicious theorician of whom we are speaking, 
to test the power of clairvoyance. In the first place, this fac- 
ulty is known to be the most changeable and uncertain of all 
the faculties of somnambulism. The least mental or physical 
derangement will disturb it. It is, therefore, very rare that 
it will fairly manifest itself when there are strangers in the 
room, which is a circumstance always disagreeable to a female 
somnambulist, particularly when she is away from home, in a 
large city like New York. In the next place, this mode of 
vision is very painful ; the exercise of it is extremely fati- 
guing, and soon overcomes the somnambulist's brain. It is 



II 






I 



46 

the observation of all magnetisers of Europe and America, 
that a lucid somnambulist cannot exercise his clairvoyance 
on more than three or four objects at each experiment. 
Therefore magnetisers should be careful not to ask of their 
subjects more than they can do. Somnambulists are gener- 
ally vain. They prefer, when urged with questions, to guess 
rather than to say they cannot see ! These are the facts ; they 
may appear ridiculous and improbable to those who have no 
experience in animal magnetism, but they are true, and we 
must take them such as they are. 

There is another and most powerful cause of disturbance 
for somnambulists, which we must mention here, although it 
is deemed supremely absurd and ridiculous by the opposers 
of magnetism. It is the wrong mental action exercised by 
certain skeptics, present at the experiments. I divide the 
skeptics into two classes. Some disbelieve the magnetic 
phenomena, merely because they are new to them, because 
they are wonderful, apparently miraculous, &c, but they are 
honest, candid, open to conviction ; and they readily surren- 
der themselves to evidence, when it is presented to them. 
The other class is composed of persons naturally stubborn, 
conceited and envious, who decide a priori that magnetism 
is a deception, reject with the utmost contempt the testimo- 
nies of the most respectable witnesses, and affirm that the ex- 
periments, the most satisfactory to other intelligent people, 
were the result of a concerted plan. These prejudiced and 
unjust men attend experiments for the sole purpose of detecting 
the trick, and are unwilling to give to the science the only sure 
and fair trial, by which they could arrive at the truth, viz : to 
magnetise for themselves. It is particularly recommended 
by all the most learned and judicious writers, as Georget, 
Rostan, Deleuze, De Puysegur, &c. to avoid having such 
characters present at the magnetic experiments. These 
eminent intellects say that they have invariably observed that 
their somnambulists always had to complain very much of 
those skeptics, and that their faculties were completely de- 



47 

ranged by their presence. This I know will appear ridicu- 
lous to the vulgar ; but to those who reflect, it is rational and 
perfectly philosophical, in admitting that every human being 
carries with himself a nervous, magnetic or vital atmosphere, 
the movements and fluctuations of which are in direct concor- 
dance with the action exercised by the brain and the nervous 
system.* This atmosphere, indeed, is formed^by certain eman- 
ations emitted by the nervo-cerebral organs. Now, we are 
aware that the modifications of these organs derive from the 
peculiar nature and tendencies of the mind and passions of 
each individual. Thence a plain inference follows, that the 
vital or magnetic atmosphere of such a living aggregate of mal- 
ice, self-conceit and impudence, as the above-mentioned cele- 
brated discoverer of the new theory, (so far as I can judge from 
his deeds,) cannot be favorable to the magnetic experiments. 
Let us reflect, indeed, that owing to the great change deter- 
mined in the perceptive and sensorial faculties of the human 
organization, during the state of somnambulism, the nervous 
system of the person who finds himself in that state, is ren- 
dered capable of feeling and appreciating, even at a distance, 
and through very peculiar ways, the mental action of those 
who approach him. It is true that somnambulists feel their 
magnetiser more than any other ; but however close their com- 
munication with him may be, they are still more or less sen- 
sible to the influence of those who stand about them. Expe- 
rience has also proved that they feel more persons of strong 
power of determination and of great nervous activity, than 
those of feeble will. It appears to me that the property that 
the nervous system has, during somnambulism, of being so 
much influenced by the vital emanations emitted around them, 
is analogous to the property of electrometers to mark the 
quantity and nature of electricity contained in the atmosphere, 
or emitted by certain electrified bodies ; it is likewise analo- 
gous in some respects to the capacity of a barometer for 
marking the variations of the weather. That such a faculty 
belongs to the nervous system of man, when placed under 

* See my preceding Letter to Col. Stone, pp. 9, 10, 11. 



48 

peculiar circumstances, is not at all unlikely and surprising, 
when we know that brute bodies, as the above-mentioned 
instruments, possess a similar one. 

I have endeavored, in the foregoing pages, to demonstrate 
that the difference of opinion which exists in regard to the real- 
ity of the magnetic phenomena originates from this main cause, 
viz : some basing their judgment on positive facts, obtained 
through experiments performed either by themselves or their 
friends, are thus led to advocate magnetism ; whereas its op- 
posers judge only from a few failures, which they consider at 
once as evident proofs of deception or of the falsity of the 
doctrine, without inquiring into the reason of those failures, 
or taking the trouble of magnetising for themselves. I have 
further endeavored to show, 1st. that the magnetic experi- 
ments are liable to fail when they are made under circum- 
stances contrary to the free and proper operation of the agents 
used ; 2d. that most magnetisers, being as yet ignorant of 
the true nature of these various circumstances, and of the 
peculiar structure and properties of these agents, are thus 
often led to experiment at random and contrarily to all the 
laws existing, but so far, hidden to them. I have also ob- 
served that it would be extremely unphilosophical to expect 
as constant and uniform results from experiments on animal 
magnetism, as from experiments made on brute bodies and 
with inorganized apparatus. Indeed, the agent used in the 
animal magnetic experiments is no other than the spirit 
or vital principle of man, and the apparatus employed is the 
human nervous system and brain. Therefore, the favorable 
or unfavorable circumstances attending on experiments of this 
kind must be of & peculiar description, viz : appropriate to the 
well known properties and dispositions of the human system. 
We know, for instance, that if mankind are every where alike 
in the essential and general features of their organization, they 
vastly differ in the details, both moral and physical. What a 
variety in their bodily forms, color, and external appearance ! 
What a difference in their intellectual capacities and passions ! 



49 



In fact, variety and multiplicity of manifestations, seem to 
be the attributes of human nature, more, at least, than of any 
other species of organized beings. This is a primary fact ; 
we cannot account for it ; but it is, and we must take it for 
granted. 

It would be, therefore, irrational to expect that every som- 
nambulist should present the same phenomena to our obser- 
vation. Indeed, their faculties and dispositions vary a great 
deal, and it is, I repeat, natural that it should be so. Some 
of them can see while asleep, and their eyes being shut ; — 
others cannot, even with the best of their efforts and wishes. 
Some hear every person in the room, and can answer their 
questions ; others hear, but cannot answer ; others,' finally, 
hear nothing and nobody except their magnetiser, &c. Now, 
we easily understand how important it is that magnetisers 
should know all these particulars, in order to save both disap- 
pointment to their visiters, and injurious reports against the 
innocent subjects of their experiments. 

It will be said, perhaps, that if the dispositions of som- 
nambulists are so various, it becomes very difficult to ascer- 
tain what is real or not. Very true ; but a plain consequence 
follows, it is that both the witnesses and operators should be 
perfectly informed of the nature of what they are doing or 
seeing, and of all those causes of mistake. Then they would 
conduct themselves in a proper way, to have positive results ; 
they would not, like Mr Durant, take so much trouble to 
find out an imaginary deception, by suggesting certain tests, 
which, however ingenious, are not at all calculated to prove any 
thing against the subject of inquiry. I affirm that such posi- 
tive results can be easily obtained by following the proper 
course. (I would beg leave to refer the reader to the nu- 
merous facts contained in my work lately published, entitled 
u Animal Magnetism in New England," &c.) 

If I am permitted to express my opinion, I would now ven- 
ture to say, that to those who have attentively read the pre- 
ceding considerations, there cannot be two ways of judging 

7 



50 

Mr Durant's Exposition of Animal Magnetism. It is evi- 
dent enough that this scientific theorician has exposed nothing 
but his utter ignorance of the matter upon which he treats. 
Every one of the pretended experiments which he has made 
on Mrs Andros and others, for the purpose of showing the 
imposition, can be referred to the cases of failure I have men- 
tioned and explained through the same way as I have those 
failures. These experiments, even supposing them to be true, 
show only an appearance of deception to superficial observers. 
But they do not weigh a straw against the numerous positive 
facts, by which so many distinguished individuals have been 
convinced. Those individuals, it is true, did not resort to 
the many vulgar and mean tricks used by Mr Durant ; not 
because they had not wit enough to imagine them, but merely 
because they saw at once that they could yield but negative 
results, and were altogether insufficient to bring forth evi- 
dence enough to satisfy them. If Mr Durant believes 
that the plan applied by him to detect the deception was some- 
thing new, he is greatly mistaken. I assure him, that how- 
ever shrewd he is (and I readily confess that he is remarka- 
bly so,) there is many a Yankee fully equal to him in this 
point. All the tricks played by him have been a hundred 
times applied to my somnambulist, but always unsuccessfully, 
because she cannot, like Mrs Andros and others, hear what 
is said in the room. I have myself often resorted to the 
very same means, not merely to expose an imposition, but to 
ascertain the peculiar dispositions and faculties of my new 
subjects. Mr S. H. Jenks of Nantucket, will remember how 
severe were the tests, and how shrewdly concerted was the 
plan adopted by us to detect a person I had magnetised at 
his house, and whom we suspected of deception. Yet the 
result of these experiments, although still stronger than that 
obtained by Mr Durant against Mrs Andros, was not suffi- 
cient to convince us that the girl was not asleep ; for she 
presented other phenomena, which could not possibly have 
been feigned by a human creature in the natural state. 



51 

Now, reader, allow me to tell you frankly what I think of 
MrD.'s work. It is throughout the most inconceivable exhibi- 
tion of self-conceit, impudence and vulgarity that could perhaps 
be presented to the world in the shape of a book. Read it, if 
you please, and if you do not come to the same conclusion, 
you must be .... at least, uncommonly forbearing. I do 
not propose to enter into any particular examination of its 
contents ; I will only say that the manner in which the author 
treats Dr F. Wayland, president of Brown University, Miss 
Brackett, the Rev. Daniel Greene, and others, is extremely 
contemptible, and deserves punishment. You will now ask 
what was Mr Durant's object ? See the clap-trap engraved 
on the cover of the book, and you will easily guess at it ; 
the honest author thought it his duty to magnetise the public's 
eyes in order to catch their pennies. His object was to make 
money at any rate ; and I am sorry to say that he will ac- 
complish it, for his favorite composition addresses too directly 
the mischievous and vulgar tendencies of men, not to excite 
the curiosity of all, and be greedily swallowed by many of 
his kindred minds. 

But I must warn those who desire and are candidly seeking 
the truth, that they ought not kindly to rely on what Mr Du- 
rant says ; for myself, I cannot credit any part of his narra- 
tive ; he has, to my knowledge, committed too gross mis- 
representations of the truth to be believed in any thing. 
Ah uno, noscite omnia, might be properly said of the whole 
book ; the two following specimens of the author's antipathy 
to truth, will clearly exemplify what I mean. Speaking of 
the Report made in June, 1831, by a Committee of the Royal 
Academy of Medicine of Paris, he says : 

" The commission spent five years with the most scrutinizing 
experiments, and finally, in 1831, reported unfavorable to the 
science, but acknowledged in the report, having seen many ex- 
traordinary and unaccountable facts, which was sufficient to 
show their prejudice and total incapability of judging in a science 
in which the fundamental principles were above their compre- 
hension. 



52 

" The respectability of the society which appointed the corn- 
mission had some influence in retarding the rapid advances 
which the science was making." 

It is evident to my mind, that in the preceding remarks 
the honest author has most daringly attempted to impose 
upon the public. For the report to which he alludes, is al- 
together favorable to the claims, even the most extraordinary, 
of magnetism, and is justly considered as having formed a 
new era in the history of the science. Those who have read 
it, know this to be the fact. Among other conclusions drawn 
from all the experiments related in the report, and which are 
presented at the end of the volume, I will extract the fol- 
lowing : 

" A certain number of the observed phenomena appeared to us 
as having been produced by magnetism alone, and could not be 
produced without it. These are physiological and therapeutical 
phenomena well established." 

" Considered as an agent of physiological phenomena, or as a 
therapeutical means, magnetism should be ranked within the 
frame of medical knowledge, and consequently physicians alone 
ought to have the privilege of using it, as it is already practised 
in the northern countries of Europe." 

" The committee have collected facts important enough to 
allow it to believe that the Academy should encourage and favor 
researches on magnetism, as being a very curious branch of psy- 
chology and natural history." 

Now, can we suppose that Mr Durant had not read the 
said report ? To me, this supposition is inadmissible. But 
if he had not, how could he so boldly and pertinently speak 
about it ? 

Here is another specimen of his love of truth and fairness. 
The following letter was written by Dr L. L. Miller, one of 
the most eminent physicians of Providence, whom he men- 
tions in his book as having been present at some experiments 
tried by Mr Potter, on a respectable infirm young lady : 

For the Journal of Commerce. 

Messrs Hale and Hallock, — Sirs, I have noticed in your daily 
of the 20th inst. an extract from Mr Durant's book on Animal 
Magnetism, respecting the case of Miss Ebon, (should be Miss 



53 



Aborn.) My name being mentioned in connexion with the case, 
I cannot assent to the whole matter contained in the extract, 
therefore, I wish you to do me the kindness to insert the follow- 
ing in your paper. Miss Aborn has been a patient of mine for 
two years or more. Her disease is lateral distortion of the spine, 
under which her sufferings have been very severe, causing sleep- 
less nights, loss of appetite, strength, &c. A long and strict per- 
severance in medical treatment failing to relieve her, as a dernier 
resort, I suggested the trial of animal magnetism, with the single 
view of procuring rest. Her answer was — " I will assent to any 
thing you think proper." I called upon Mr Potter to make trial 
of animal magnetism. His first attempt was successful in about 
thirty minutes. On visiting her next morning at 8 o'clock, I 
found her sitting in the room, and she exclaimed with an ex- 
pression of the most perfect sincerity — "I have not had so 
comfortable sleep for two years, and feel as much refreshed as I 
ever did from my natural sleep." I advised her to try the ex- 
periment again. She was magnetised every night for some 
weeks, and with but two or three slight exceptions, rested per- 
fectly well and continues to, up to this time, without the aid of 
any medicine whatever. 

Her general health soon began to improve, and she now en- 
joys all the comforts of quiet sleep, good appetite, &c. 

I cannot imagine how Mr Durant arrived at the conclusion 
that Miss Aborn is a " self-deceived somnambulist," and much 
more am I surprised that he should give so vulgar a description 
of the progress of magnetising, together with his vile in- 
sinuations. It is true, the magnetiser is seated in front of his 
patient, and that in the process of manipulating, the hands are 
passed over the limbs. But I assure you, there are no circum- 
stances attending it, that would excite such thoughts in an hon- 
est heart. 

The imbecile language she is made to use in his extract, I 
have never heard from her, and am assured by Mr Potter, she 
never used it in his presence. I have no recollection of any other 
experiments than the one willing the pencil a watermelon, and 
willing her to awake in a given time, which I am very 
happy to say are true. However, this does not interest me so 
much as the manner in which the young lady is treated in 
the extract by Mr Durant. Miss Aborn is well known to a 
large circle of friends of the first respectability. Her charac- 
ter here, does not need a moment's comment. She is a young 
lady of good powers of mind, and a heart as honest and pure 
as the one is vile which attempts to traduce it. 

LEWIS L. MILLER. 

Providence , Oct. 27, 1837. 



'/■ 



B 



I 

I 



54 

The description given by Mr D. of the experiments per- 
formed on Miss Aborn, is such as to make even a soldier 
blush. Any person of common sense and delicacy cannot 
help being indignant at the gross outrage against decency, truth 
and christian charity contained in these libellous pages. 

The reader will, perhaps, find me rather severe in my re- 
marks. This may be ; but I beg his pardon, I cannot be 
otherwise. I am a man, I feel like a man, and express my 
feelings as they are. If I thought that Mr Durant were ca- 
pable of appreciating mildness, I would have been mild to- 
wards him. If I thought that he would have considered si- 
lence as a proof of perfect contempt rather than of fear, I 
would not even have said a word about him. But I am fully 
convinced that such a vain and prejudiced character always 
sees things through a distorted medium, and cannot but mis- 
take the true sentiments of others either for homage or an 
expression of dread of his superior skill. I would add, more- 
over, that my feelings towards Mr D. are not those of anger 
and revenge ; he has surely spoken of me in very harsh terms, 
but I pay no attention to it ; I feel particularly indignant for 
the impertinent and unjust manner in which he has ungrate- 
fully presented before the public, so many respectable per- 
sons from whom he had received only polite attentions at 
Providence. The interest that I feel in those estimable per- 
sons, as well as the love of truth have prompted me to write 
these pages ; God knows that I have been moved by no other 
motive whatever. 

In justice to Mrs Andros, the somnambulist, who has been 
so unfeelingly imposed upon by Mr Durant, I will say a word 
more ; I have seen her twice in the magnetic sleep, and she 
gave me as well as to others who were present, indisputable 
proofs that she was in magnetic somnambulism. She had been 
magnetised nearly three months, by Mr Ame. C. Potter, an 
intelligent and amiable gentleman of Providence, before she 
ever was magnetised by her own husband. She never had 



I 

I 

I 



55 

any idea of going to New York, to appear before the public 
as a somnambulist until very lately, when she was strongly ad- 
vised to do it by several influential gentlemen from that city. 
Mr Andros, induced by the hope of making his fortune, de- 
termined to follow the plan suggested to him, and in conse- 
quence went to New York with his wife. But I must say, 
that a few days before her departure, this lady told me that 
she was very reluctant to leave her home for such a purpose, 
and that she was doing it to comply with her husband's wish- 
es. I must also declare that I strongly disapproved of Mr 
A.'s resolution, although I had myself no idea and never had 
an inclination to go and lecture in New York. I objected 
to Mr A.'s plan, on the ground that he was incapable of pro- 
perly managing a somnambulist, was totally ignorant of the 
science, could not give a single explanation about the 
effects produced, and was not at all qualified to face on 
any occasion with a scientific man. I observed to him that 
I knew from experience that in thus displacing his som- 
nambulist, he would expose her to frequent failures, and 
very probably throw himself and his innocent wife into 
very serious troubles ; I finally assured him, that, should he 
persist in his plan, I would publicly protest against his doings in 
New York ; it being my duty to do so, as I felt responsi- 
ble for the success of animal magnetism in this country and 
bound to secure all possible means to favor its free and 
regular development. Mr A. did not take any notice of my 
admonitions ; he went to New York, and exhibited his som- 
nambulist, although every circumstance was unfavorable to his 
experiments. I did not protest in the newspapers, both out 
of kindness towards Mr A., and for fear that he and others 
would have charged me with jealousy ; I thought it better 
to keep silent. Mr A. acted then on his own responsibility. 
Whether his wife ever contrived to practise deception or 
not, I leave it to others to judge. But if she had, would it 
be just and philosophical to draw the inference that all som- 



:■ 



56 



nambulists do the same ? Can people, besides, decide any 
thing concerning animal magnetism, from the conduct and 
language of Mr Andros, ignorant as he is of the matter ?* 

C. P. 

* I refer the reader to the appendix of the last edition of Col. W. L. Stone's 
letter to Dr Brigham, where several wonderful and well authenticated proofs of 
lucidity were afforded to him by this very Mrs A. whom Mr D. represents as an 
infamous deceiver. 






N. B. The reader will probably have noticed several grammatical inaccura- 
cies and idiomatical phrases in the two preceding Essays. In preparing them 
for the press, I was obliged to rely solely upon my own imperfect acquaintance 
with the language. Those of my friends to whom I wished to submit the MS. 
before publication, were so much engaged at the time that 1 hardly thought it 
proper to withdraw their attention from their own affairs. I must therefore ask 
the indulgence of the reader for this first edition. The next one (should there 
be demand for another) will undergo a careful revision. 



REMARKS 



I 
I 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH 



THE 



CLAIMS OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM 



SHOULD BE MET AND DISCUSSED. 



[A long and very valuable dissertation under the above title, appeared some 
months ago in the Bristol County Democrat, published at Taunton, Mass. We 
at first intended to extract the whole of it, but are obliged, in order not to exceed 
too much the proposed limits of this pamphlet, to leave out several parts of it. 
These omissions, however, do not substantially alter the sense and connection of 
the arguments.] 

Animal Magnetism seems, at this time, and in this vicinity, 
to excite some public attention and interest. The number and 
character of the believers in the reality of this mysterious power, 
are such as to entitle the subject to a candid consideration and 
impartial examination. The question whether its claims, as pre- 
sented by its advocates, are founded in truth, is one of consider- 
able importance, and the evidence which its advocates offer in 
the affirmative should be subjected to a rigid, but unprejudiced 
investigation. It is not my intention, at present, if ever, to dis- 
cuss that evidence, or to attempt to establish or controvert fhose 
claims ; but simply to make some remarks and suggestions as to 
the manner in which those claims should be met and discussed. 
This seems to me to be a necessary preliminary to the actual 
discussion ; because, so far as I have noticed any published re- 
marks on the subject, in this vicinity, the writers appear to me 
to have approached it in a manner and spirit little calculated to 
lead to correct results. 

It may be proper, in the first place, to state as distinctly as may 
be, what is to be understood by the term " animal magnetism. 1 ' 
The definition of the term and the description of the phenomena 
produced, as given by Mr Poyen, are as follows : 

8 



58 



" It is a peculiar state of the nervous system, during which 
some unusual physiological phenomena, not yet well appreciated, 
present themselves — -a state which is ordinarily produced in one 
individual by the will of another, performing certain manual evo- 
lutions for the purpose of causing it to take place." 

" The phenomena produced under the influence of the wz'ZZand 
gestures, vary according both to the disposition of the person to 
receive the magnetical action, and the power of the magne- 
tiser to exercise that action. Thus some individuals, especially 
those who are strong and enjoy perfect health, feel nothing, 
some others feel some heaviness of the eyelids, cephalgia, nau- 
sea, much calm or great agitation. Finally, some are plunged 
into a peculiar sleep, called magnetical sleep, and reach, after a 
few sittings, that very singular state known under the name of 
somnambulism. The magnetical sleep is characterized by a 
complete suspension of the external senses. Somnambulism is 
the faculty of speaking during the sleep ; of recognizing external 
objects through unusual ways, and finally, of hearing nobody but 
the magnetiser or the other person brought into relation to the 
magnetised." 

Here, then, we have a definition of the alleged power or agen- 
cy in question, and a statement of the phenomena said to be pro- 
duced by it. The questions to be settled are, whether any such 
state of the nervous system can be produced in the manner stated, 
and if so, whether any such phenomena as are described, are 
consequent on such a state ? Now it is obvious that these are 
simply questions of fact, and to be decided, like all other ques- 
tions of fact, by the evidence. And in an inquiry of this kind, 
what is the nature of the evidence which we are to expect, and 
which ought to be required 1 

My first principle, in answer to the interrogation is, negatively, 
that the facts are not to be proved or disproved by a course of 
mere abstract reasoning. No fact in physical science ever was, 
or ever can be, proved or disproved conclusively by reasoning 
a priori. Facts are to be established, in the first place, by their 
appropriate evidence — the evidence of experiment, observation 
and testimony — and from the facts thus established, we may, 
by reasoning, draw inferences and deduce conclusions as to the 
causes and consequences of these facts. Facts are the data — 
the basis — and the result of reasoning. You may, by reason- 
ing from previously established analogous facts, show, more or 
less satisfactorily, the probability or improbability of another al- 
leged fact ; but such reasoning must always and necessarily be 
inconclusive, and subject to be controlled by evidence having a 
direct bearing on the question. Who, for example, would ever 
think of proving by abstract reasoning the fact of the falling of 



59 

meteoric stones from the atmosphere, or from regions beyond it ? 
or the fact that a certain metal took fire and burnt up on being 
immersed in pure, cold water ? Before any such facts were 
known to have occurred, one might, by reasoning analogically 
from the known properties and qualities of stones and the atmos- 
phere, in the one case, and of metals and cold water in the other, 
have shown, very clearly, the improbability, and might claim to 
have proved demonstratively the impossibility that either of these 
phenomena could take place consistently with the established 
laws of nature. And yet the facts, in both cases, are proved, by 
incontestible evidence, and are now admitted by all who have ex- 
amined that evidence. Reason is to be employed in deciding 
upon the nature, the credibility, the weight and the effect of the 
evidence adduced in support of any alleged fact. But when 
reason is satisfied that the evidence is appropriate, its credibility 
unquestionable and effect conclusive, reason has nothing further 
to do but to yield its assent to the truths thus established, how- 
ever strange and mysterious they may appear. 

* TV- -T? -7^- -7?- -75- "7? 

The intrinsic improbability of miracles is, to say the least, 
as great as that of animal magnetism, and if similar evidence, or 
evidence equally cogent, can be offered in support of animal 
magnetism, which its advocates do not set up as a miracle, but 
merely as a recently discovered operation of the ordinary laws of 
nature, consistency requires assent to that also. I do not say 
that such evidence has been or can be adduced. I am not now 
examining the question of the reality of animal magnetism, but 
endeavoring to settle the principles upon which the examination 
should be conducted, and the nature of the evidence which should 
be required. 

4£> AU ^6f ~4l* *V- - '4£* * 4fe 

"TV" *7v* •7?" •TC* "Tr "Tf" V?" 

My second negative proposition is, that the truth of the al- 
leged facts and phenomena of animal magnetism is not to be 
proved or disproved by ' Revelation* In this enlightened age 
and country, I should not have deemed it necessary to announce 
this principle, if I had not heard it asserted that some persons 
refuse to believe in animal magnetism because they consider it 
contrary to scripture. 

-V- -A/, -\£. Jj, -!(, .V, 

"7S" "7V" W -TV* TV" "K- 

The truths of nature may contradict the letter, but never 
the spirit, of the scriptures. They may, in some instances, con- 
tradict our previous private interpretation of the scriptures, but 
no scripture is of private interpretation. There may be appar- 
ent but there cannot be real contradictions or inconsistencies. 
The scriptures speak of the rising and going down of the sun. 
Astronomy teaches that the sun actually neither rises nor goes 



60 

down, but is stationary. This astronomical truth was once sup- 
posed to contradict the scripture truth, and was accordingly de- 
nounced as heresy ; but that notion has long since been explod- 
ed. More recently the truths of the science of geology were 
supposed to be inconsistent with the truth of the Mosaic account 
of the creation, and infidels rejoiced and some believers trem- 
bled in view of the consequences of this discovery ; but farther 
researches and discoveries have shown that the revelations of 
geology are not only reconcilable with, but furnish corroborative 
proofs of the truth of the scriptural account, in its fair interpre- 
tation, of the formation of the earth and its inhabitants. Very 
recently, we learn, his holiness the pope has issued his bull con- 
demning the supposed truths of phrenology as heresies ; but I 
presume the advocates of that science, in this country at least, 
will not be driven, by its terrors, to the abandonment of their in- 
vestigations and pursuits. Neither do I believe that the inves- 
tigations of the enquirers into the claims of animal magnetism 
will be abandoned on account of the tremulous apprehensions of 
those who have so little confidence in the foundations of their 
own faith in Christianity as to be alarmed lest they should be 
overturned by the puny discoveries which may be made in natu- 
ral science. There is nothing to be feared from an indulgence 
of the sober spirit of inquiry into any subject. Christianity is 
founded on ' the rock of ages' and all the discoveries which man 
can make in the laws, operations and phenomena of nature will 
only contribute to the proof of its strength and immutability. 

•u. .ii. J/- -U. JJL. -ii- 

■Tv* "3v* vt" "TV* "A* "Tv* 

My third negative proposition is, that the questions relating 
to the reality of animal magnetism are not to be settled by 
the mere authority of names, and opinions of men however 
learned, intelligent, and respectable. Facts are to be establish- 
ed by evidence, and opinions are to be founded on facts. If the 
opinions of others are not based on facts, they are baseless and 
utterly without weight, by whomsoever entertained. If they are 
based on facts, let them communicate the facts to us, that we 
may form our own opinions. ' Have any of the rulers and of 
the pharisees believed V is a question which, in substance and 
spirit, though in various forms, has been repeated times innumer- 
able, during, at least, the last eighteen centuries. But after all, 
mere opinion as to matters of fact is, in general, utterly worth- 
less as evidence of truth. 

^L. .M, JiL> «V* <A£. «i£ 

*7V* -Tf* "Tr *7v" *7f" •7v" 

The question as to the reality of animal magnetism is not one of 
science and skill, but of the existence of certain alleged facts and 
phenomena; and upon this question the mere opinions of others, 
however exalted, — whether popes or cardinals, clergy or laity, 
physicians or patients, cashiers or designers, merchants or law- 



61 

yers, mechanics or farmers, — can have no legitimate authority, 
and are of no use but to save the careless and indolent the trou- 
ble of examining the evidence and forming opinions for them- 
selves, by furnishing them ready made to their hands. 

Here it may not be improper to suggest, more distinctly, the 
difference between the expressions of a mere opinion and the tes- 
timony of a witness as to facts. The distinction would seem to 
be sufficiently obvious, but still, I apprehend, it is sometimes con- 
founded. When a credible witness declares that a certain fact 
about which he could not be mistaken, took place within his per- 
sonal observation, that is appropriate and competent evidence, 
and may be considered as full proof of its actual occurrence, 
though it may be in itself strange and improbable ; but if he 
merely expresses an opinion that a certain fact took place, about 
which he knows no more than I do ; or if he goes further and 
expresses an opinion as to the unknown cause of that supposed 
fact, this is evidence only of the state of his mind — of his opin- 
ion — and is not evidence of the correctness of that opinion. If 
the fact which he believes took place appears to me to be more 
probable than the contrary, and if the cause which he assigns 
appears to me to be adequate, I may adopt his opinions on the 
subject, but if not I am bound to reject them. In other words, I 
ought not to adopt them without knowing and examining the 
facts, the grounds, the evidence on which they are founded. 

T(F . W W W w WW 

In discussing the question of the authority of names and 
opinions in relation to the alleged phenomena of animal magnet- 
ism, it seems to be necessary to advert to the report of the com- 
missioners, of whom Dr Franklin was one, appointed by the 
king of France in 1784 to investigate the subject as it was then 
presented by Mesmer. That report it is well known was against 
the claims and pretensions of Mesmer. So far as the question 
submitted to them could be decided by their authority, it was de- 
cided by that report. The public, with some few exceptions, 
seemed to be satisfied, and have ever since, until recently, im- 
plicitly acquiesced in that decision, as a final settlement of the 
matter. I now propose to offer some remarks to show that the 
report of those commissioners is not conclusive on the principal 
question now in debate, and that it rather encourages than pre- 
cludes, further examination. 

In the first place M de Jussieu, one of the commissioners, 
whose skill and judgment as a man of science and an accurate 
observer of the phenomena of nature are well established and 
extensively known, after carefully witnessing the experiments 
with the others, and experimenting also by himself, published 
another report, in which, he had the independence and boldness 
to express a contrary opinion, and to acknowledge the magnetic 
influence and effects. 






62 

In the second place, the experiments witnessed by the com- 
missioners differed materially, if not essentially, — both in the 
mode of proceeding and in the phenomena produced, — from those 
of the present day. The difference is so broad and striking that 
it may suggest a reasonable doubt whether both are produced on 
the same principles or by the same agency. At any rate they 
differ so widely that if the former experiments and phenomena 
utterly failed to prove the reality of animal magnetism, it does 
not follow that the latter must also necessarily fail. In the form- 
er experiments there were oak boxes, iron rods, vocal and instru- 
mental music, and a great parade and extensive apparatus of 
complicated machinery. Now there is no parade, no machinery. 
The operations of the magnetiser are few and simple, and little 
calculated to impose even on the feeble minded and credulous, 
or to produce " excited sensibility." In the former experiments, 
some of the effects were convulsions, expectorations of viscous 
and sometimes of bloody matter ; involuntary and precipitated 
motion of the limbs and body, quick internal muscular move- 
menfs ; cries, tears and immoderate laughter. Now all is said 
to be in general comparatively quiet ; the patient generally re- 
mains at rest, sometimes falling into an easy slumber, and occa- 
sionally, but more rarely, into somnambulism. Thus the facts 
and phenomena but very slightly, if at all, resemble each other, 
though the name has been retained. The apparent change of 
aspect, if not of essential character, invites further investigation. 

In the third place the pretensions and theory of Mesmer, 
which those commissioners were appointed to examine, had a 
tendency to lead their attention from the precise question now in 
debate and to direct it to another and entirely distinct one. Mes- 
mer pretended (and probably believed) that he had discovered 
" a fluid universally diffused, and filling all space, being a me- 
dium of reciprocal influence between the celestial bodies and the 
earth, and living beings ; — it insinuated itself into the substance 
of the nerves, upon which therefore it had a direct operation ; it 
was capable of being communicated from one body to other 
bodies, both animate and inanimate, and that at a considerable 
distance, without the assistance of any intermediate substance ; — 
and it exhibited, in the human body, some properties analogous 
to those of the loadstone." In short he said, " Nature offers, in 
magnetism, the universal means of curing and preserving the 
lives of men." 

This was Mesmer's theory ; and the attention of the com- 
missioners was directed to the facts principally in their relation 
to this theory. The question was whether this theory was prov- 
ed by the facts, and it is obvious, so far as I can judge by their 
report, that they examined the facts and phenomena, almost ex- 
clusively, in relation to this question. Now the facts and phe- 



63 



nomena certainly did not prove Mesmer's theory, and the com- 
missioners therefore, very properly, reported against it. Finding 
that this theory was not established by the phenomena, the com- 
missioners undertook to theorize for themselves, and attempted 
to account for the phenomena by imputing them to the agency 
of imagination, imitation, and contagion or excited sensibility. 
Whether this theory is more satisfactory than Mesmer's, it is un- 
necessary to our present purpose to decide. The present advo- 
cates of a power or agency to which — perhaps improperly, or at 
least unfortunately — they also give the name of animal magnet- 
ism, do not adopt the theory or the pretensions of Mesmer. If 
therefore his theory and pretensions are utterly demolished, the 
question now in debate is not thereby affected in the slightest de- 
gree. The present advocates of what they called animal mag- 
netism only insist on this single proposition, viz : that certain 
specified facts and phenomena may be produced by means of cer- 
tain specified mental and manual operations ; but they do not re- 
quire that these facts and phenomena should be accounted for in 
any particular manner, or on any particular theory. Each one 
may account for them as he best can, or leave their cause in its 
original mystery and obscurity. Their wish is to establish and 
multiply facts and not to theorize. The question whether the 
proposition above announced is true or false, is that to which they 
wish to direct attention ; and that question is not only not decid- 
ed, but not even touched, by the report of the commisioners of 
1784. 

I regret that I have not been able to find a copy at length, of 
that report. I have relied on the accounts of it which are given 
by Dr Willich, lately published in a newspaper in this town ; in 
the Encyclopedia Americana^ article ' Magnetism ;' and in Ree's 
Cyclopedia, article ' Imagination.' These articles were evident- 
ly written by unbelievers in animal magnetism, in any sense of 
those terms ; and of course would not make any misstatement 
favorable to its reality. From those accounts it appears that the 
commissioners gave a statement, in their report, of the facts and 
phenomena upon which their opinion was founded. It seems to 
me that those facts and phenomena are of a character so extra- 
ordinary and remarkable as to invite further scrutiny. I have 
already alluded to some of them, and shall not repeat them. 
" Nothing," say the commissioners, " can be more surprising, or 
more inconceivable by those who have not witnessed it, than the 
spectacle of these convulsions ; all seem to be under the power 
of the magnetiser ; a sign from him, his voice, his look, imme- 
diately rouses them from a state of even apparent stupor. In 
truth," they add, " it was impossible not to recognise, in these 
constant effects, a great power or agency which held the patients 
under its dominion, and of which the magnetiser appeared to be 
the sole depositary." 



64 

This is the literal language of the commissioners, in a re- 
port which is generally supposed to have annihilated forever the 
pretensions of animal magnetism. They witnessed certain ex- 
periments. They acknowledge that certain surprising, and be- 
fore inconceivable phenomena were produced ; that these phe- 
nomena were the "constant effects" of the operations performed 
to produce them ; and that these things prove the actual exist- 
ence and influence of a " great power " which was wielded and 
directed at the will of the magnetiser ! Now it seems to me that 
these statements and acknowledgments of the commissioners go 
very far toward establishing, if they do not completely establish, 
so far as the authority of the commissioners can establish, all that 
is essential in the reality of animal magnetism, in the present use 
and acceptation of those terms; and they leave in dispute only 
Mesmer's theory, the name, and some unessential phenomena 
which were then unknown. But I care not for the name or for 
Mesmer's theory, or any other theory, even that of the commis- 
sioners. The theories may be true or false without in the least 
affecting the reality of the facts and phenomena. The name may 
be inappropriate. It may lead the mind astray as to the proper 
subject of inquiry in relation to the agency in question, by con- 
necting it with Mesmer's theory of an all pervading magnetic 
fluid. I think it has had some such unfavorable influence. 
Some name expressive of the phenomena produced or of the 
manner of producing them, without apparently assuming any 
theory as to their causation, would unquestionably be better. The 
agency may have no such resemblance, affinity or analogy to 
animal magnetism as is suggested by its name. Abandon the 
old name, then, if you please, and give it one more appropriate. 
Call it Animal Influence. Call it any one or all of the names 
given to it by the commissioners — " imagination" — " imitation" 
— " contagion," — if you think them more expressive and less 
liable to mislead. I admit all the facts stated by the commis- 
sioners. I have no controversy with them even about their 
opinions as to the cause and origin of the phenomena, or the 
name selected by them to designate the power by which they were 
produced. They may be right in their views of all these things, 
and yet the question now in debate remains wholly unaffected by 
their decision. Adopt their opinions^ theory and nomenclature, if 
you choose. Then proceed in your experiments to ascertain, by 
a careful induction of particulars, the extent, limits and uses of 
the newly discovered functions of those long known and admit- 
ted powers and faculties of man. Even in this view much re- 
mains to be done, and the subject is worthy of farther investiga- 
tion. It may lead to important discoveries in intellectual 
philosophy, physiology and therapeutics. It certainly invites a,n& 
may reward your labors of research. 



65 

I hope I have now succeeded in my attempt to shew that the 
question as to the claims of animal magnetism, as they are pre- 
sented at the present day, is not so completely settled and put at 
rest, either by the facts or opinions stated in the report of the 
French commissioners of 1784, as to preclude or even discourage 

further examination. 

* # # # * * # 

I proceed to state, as a fourth negative proposition, that the 
question of the reality of animal magnetism is not to be settled 
by ridicule, sarcasm and wit. These are very proper in their 
place. They serve for an amusing exercise and recreation, 
which may, on this and most other occasions, be indulged with- 
out harm. I can enjoy the keenness of ridicule when aimed at 
the follies, and foibles, and absurd opinions (as the belief in ani- 
mal magnetism is by some supposed to be,) of men, without 
wounding their feelings. I can smile at the corruscations and 
brilliancy of wit, when it flashes and sparkles without scorching; 
and I can excuse even the shafts of sarcasm, when hurled against 
the arrogance of self-conceit, without lacerating the sensibility of 
the modest and unassuming. But ridicule is not the test of 
truth. The fear of it may cause the faint-hearted to shrink from 
the avowal of those opinions against which it is directed, and 
from an examination of the evidence in their support. But its 
wavering, nickering light is not the lamp of evidence. It can 
never become a sure u lamp to the feet and light to the path" of 
the lovers of science. It will never be a " pillar of cloud by day 
and of fire by night" to guide the wanderers in their journey ings 
through the wilderness of doubt and ignorance, to the promised 
land of certainty and truth. The bare suggestion of this propo- 
sition is, I trust, sufficient to teach the necessity of care to dis- 
tinguish between ridicule and evidence, sarcasm and truth, wit 
and wisdom. 

My fifth and last negative proposition is, that this question is 
not to be settled by general and sweeping objections, however 
oracular in their enunciations, sometimes advanced with little 
thought and received with less consideration. Such objections 
I have often heard of, and I now propose to examine a few of the 
most prominent. If I mistake not, I can, with little labor, either 
demonstrate their fallacy, or show that they are too loose and in- 
definite to be distinctly met, and therefore unavailing. The ob- 
jections are announced in conversation, and it may not be possi- 
ble to state them in the precise words of the objectors, but I shall 
endeavor, as far as may be, to retain their full force and 
spirit. 

The first objection I shall notice under this head, is announced " 
in terms like the following. " I cannot believe in animal mag- 
netism, because all theory is opposed to it." Now if the objec- 
tor, instead of using this general form of objection, would conde- 

9 



66 

scend to enumerate and specify some theories which he supposes 
are opposed to it, he might, perhaps, discover the fallacy of his 
own objection. At any rate, I should be better able to under- 
stand and appreciate its force. What theories are against it? 
There is a theory of the tides, a theory of gravitation, and one 
Symmes once formed and announced a very curious theory of 
the earth. Are all these or any other conceivable theories, (ex- 
cept the objector's own theory on the very subject in question) 
opposed to animal magnetism ? Have they any bearing upon it 
or relation to it ? If so, I will thank the objector to point out the 
bearing to it. 

But what if all theory is opposed to it ? What is theory ? 
Johnson tells us it is " speculation ; not practice ; scheme ; plan 
or system yet subsisting only in the mind." Theory, then, how- 
ever plausible, is not fact or evidence of fact. Facts may sustain 
theory, but theory never can prove or disprove facts. 

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Another of these sweeping objections is substantially this : 
" I cannot believe in animal magnetism because it is contrary to 
the laws of nature, — a miracle." This general objection, like 
the former, cannot be directly met and answered, but by a gen- 
eral denial. The advocates of animal magnetism say that its 
phenomena are not produced by a violation, but by the operation 
of the laws of nature. The objectors affirm the contrary. Here 
is general assertion against general assertion — opinion against 
opinion, and they leave the question in dispute precisely where 
they found it — a question of fact to be proved or disproved by 
its appropriate evidence. If the objector will point out some par- 
ticular, established, admitted, universal law of nature, and show 
distinctly how that law is violated by the alleged phenomena of 
animal magnetism, the objection must prevail, but I have never 
known this attempted. 

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Another objection — or rather declaration — which has been 
made by some persons possessing corporeal vigor and mental ac- 
tivity, is of this kind : " I will not believe until some person shall 
cause me to fall asleep by the magnetic influence." Whether 
this specific piece of evidence ought to be more satisfactory than 
any other, I shall not stop to inquire. The objection savors 
strongly of the spirit of the unbelieving Thomas. He refused to 
believe the concurrent, positive testimony of the other disciples, 
and even went so far as to prescribe the precise nature and de- 
gree of evidence to which alone he would yield his assent — the 
evidence of two, at least, of his own senses. In that case the 
required evidence was graciously furnished ; but accompanied 
at the same time, with a gentle reproof for the slowness of his 
belief. " Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believ- 



67 

ed ; blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed." 
The fact, in that case, certainly required as strong proof as that 
of animal magnetism ; and the implied reproof of the unbelief of 
Thomas shows the unreasonableness of rejecting the concurrent 
testimony of numerous credible witnesses to a fact, even of an 
extraordinary character, about which they could not be mistaken ; 
and of rejecting all evidence except that of our ozvn senses and 
personal experience. Some persons, I am told, have even gone 
farther than this, and declared that they would not believe in 
animal magnetism on any evidence whatever. This is a species 
of monomania which, quoad hoc, deprives the objectors of the 
characters and attributes of reasonable beings, and to them, there- 
fore, I can make no reply. 

Another objection — not so much to the truth of animal magne- 
tism, as to an examination of its evidence even — is that, " if true, 
it is wrong and wicked, and ought not to be meddled with." 
This, I suppose, is merely a remnant of the old superstitious 
feeling against magic, and sorcery, and the black art, and " sol- 
emn compaction or conversing with the devil by way of witch- 
craft, conjuration and the like." It is a feeling unworthy of the 
present enlightened age, and I presume very limited in its influ- 
ence. We need not fear that we shall ever discover any truth 
which God intended to conceal from us. Our powers of investi- 
gating and comprehending truth were given us with the intent 
that they should be successfully exercised. Truth — all truth — 
is essentially good. It is good in itself and good for man, though 
he may pervert it to evil by his own wickedness. If the power 
ascribed to animal magnetism is a reality, it is already discov- 
ered, and the knowledge of it cannot be annihilated. If the good 
reject it and refuse to employ and direct it to benevolent objects, 
the wicked may cultivate and pursue it in order to pervert it to 
their own unholy purposes. I have little faith in the declaration 
of some of its enthusiastic advocates, that it can be successfully 
exercised only when undertaken from good motives and for be- 
nevolent ends. All truth and all human power, so far as I know, 
may be abused as well as used, and I have yet seen no evidence 
to satisfy me that animal magnetism, if a reality, is an exception 
to the general rule. If, then, there is such a power and agency 
as that which is ascribed to animal magnetism, it is, I humbly 
insist, not only the right, but the duty of the virtuous to investi- 
gate it thoroughly, that they may not only use it themselves for 
purposes of benevolence, but may discover and apply the means 
of counteracting the arts and machinations of the depraved to 
pervert it to the accomplishment of their own guilty designs. If 
there is evidence sufficient to raise even a slight presumption of 
its reality, we should seek the light of further evidence on the 
subject, and follow wherever that light may lead us, without fear 



68 

or faltering. I am not so enthusiastic as to expect that any dis- 
coveries which may be made in relation to this power, if it is a 
reality, will effect any great revolution in human affairs. I do 
not believe that it will furnish a panacea for the cure of all mala- 
dies ; a rail road conveyance to the acquisition of all knowledge ; 
or a remedy for all the nameless " ills that flesh is heir to." I ask 
only a sober examination of its evidence, its capacities and its 
uses. 

I have never, amongst all the objections, heard any one of the 
objectors say, " I have faithfully and repeatedly tried the experi- 
ment on others, and submitted to its trial on myself; I have also 
witnessed repeated trials of it upon and by others of different 
ages, sexes and temperaments ; and all without success, and 
without perceptible effect." Such an objection, if made, would 
be entitled to grave consideration, but until made, I am not called 
upon to meet and examine it. 

I now proceed to consider the last oracular objection to which 
I shall refer under this head. It is this. " I cannot," say the 
objectors, " believe the reality of animal magnetism, because its 
pretensions are an assumption of the essential attributes of Jeho- 
vah, — Omnipotence, Ubiquity, and Omniscience." Let me 
again ask the objector to be more specific. Which of the essen- 
tial facts and phenomena of animal magnetism assumes these, or 
either of these attributes of the Deity ? Who claims to possess 
them ? Does he usurp the attribute of omnipotence, who express- 
ly disclaims the power to operate, with equal efficacy, on all, and 
even to produce any perceptible effect on some ? Does he usurp 
the attribute of ubiquity, who exercises the power to discern 
some external objects by unknown means and to a limited extent, 
though the precise limits may be undefined and may vary with 
varying circumstances ? Does he claim the attribute of omni' 
science, who distinctly admits his utter ignorance of the nature, 
essence and efficiency of means in the production of their 
effects ? 

Man, with all his ignorance, and dependence,' and weak- 
ness, and frailty, and folly, and sin, can do some few things by 
the aid of his acknowledged, though limited and derived powers. 
He can fell forests, erect palaces, build cities, level mountains, 
mould the refractory rocks into forms of gracefulness and beau- 
ty, guide, direct and disarm in some measure the lightning, and 
subject the elements of nature to his will. He can subdue the 
beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the leviathans of the 
ocean, and compel them to minister to his necessities and plea- 
sures. He has power, too, over his fellow men. There is pow- 
er in the eye of man when it beams with benevolence or burns 
with indignation— a power acknowledged and felt wherever it is 
seen, and which has caused even the tiger to quail and shrink 



69 

from its steady and determined gaze. There is a mysterious 
and fascinating, but mighty power in the eye of female beauty 
— a power which has charmed the ferocity of the savage, sub- 
dued the strength of the valiant, softened the audacity of the 
bold and unrelenting, melted the heart of the cruel, and com- 
pelled the proud despot to kneel before it and sue for favor. The 
conqueror has power to levy and command armies, ravage na- 
tions, subject them to the sway of his sceptre, and bind them in 
fetters of iron and bands of brass. Even in our own boasted 
land of freedom and equal rights, man exercises the power to 
hold millions of his fellow men in abject slavery, to subject their 
bodies, and, if it be his pleasure, to crush them beneath his heel. 
All these things man has the acknowledged power to perform 
and actually does perform, but if he claims a power to cause a 
fellow man, less vigorous than himself, to fall asleep, he arro- 
gates to himself the attribute of omnipotence ! ! 

He can harness the winds and the vapors to his ships and 
his cars, compel them to do his bidding, and cause them to trans- 
port his person and his wealth " to the uttermost parts of the 
earth and of the sea." He can rise from the dust, poise himself 
in mid air, ride on the wings of the wind, and behold the earth 
and its inhabitants rolling beneath him. With his " visual orbs" 
he can penetrate the realms of space, number the stars that ap- 
pear in the firmament, and call them by their names. He can 
watch the planets in their courses, weigh their masses, measure 
their distances, and foretell their places amidst the heavenly 
constellations at all future periods of time. He can gaze on the 
galaxy, wander through the wilderness of suns that glitter 
through the abysses of space, pass from Sirius to Orion ; from 
the Pleiades to regions beyond the uttermost visible star, and 
there wonder and adore in the midst of the magnificence of this 
immeasurable temple of the Most High. All these things man 
has the acknowledged power to perform and actually does per- 
form, but if he pretends to discern by unknown means, a few ex- 
ternal objects on earth, which are beyond his own or others' or- 
dinary ken, he usurps the attribute of ubiquity ! ! 

From the silence and secrecy of his closet, he can utter 
without even an audible whisper, his behests of business, his ar- 
dors of affection and his agonies of unrequited love ; and the 
strength of the horse, the power of steam, the skill of men and 
the energies of governmental agency are forthwith wielded to 
speed his utterings to their destined object, however remote. 
From the deep recesses of his own mind, he can send forth his 
invisible thoughts, embodied in visible forms— his thoughts that 
breathe in words that burn—\he glowing emanations of wisdom 
and virtue — to enlighten, and instruct, and cheer the millions of 
the civilized world. He can transmit those thoughts, — -invisible, 



70 

intangible, inaudible as they are — to the unborn millions of all 
future nations, and ages, and kindred, and tongues. On the 
wings of imagination he can fly back to the source of the stream 
of time — to the period when light first dawned on the infant 
creation — and listen to the song of the morning stars and the 
shout of the sons of God. He can, by the same power, summon 
around him the departed spirits of the sages and patriarchs and 
prophets of the ' olden time ;' behold their venerable forms and 
catch the accents of holiness and inspiration flowing warm from 
their lips. He can hear the indignant denunciations of Isaiah, 
the tender and pathetic waitings of Jeremiah, and the melting 
harmonies of the harp of David. He can pass on to the final 
consummation of all things, join in the hosannas of saints and 
angels in the realms of bliss, and bathe and revel in the efful- 
gence of uncreated glory. All these things he can do by the aid 
of his acknowledged powers, — weak, frail, dependent, sinful as 
he is — but if he claims the power of communicating a single 
volitiqp from his own mind to that of his brother in his imme- 
diate presence, he is guilty of robbing the Almighty of his attri- 
butes and usurping omniscience ! ! I have now done with objec- 
tions. 

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In removing these objections I have been led into such a 
series of remarks, and have made so many suggestions relating 
to the principal objects I had in view, that little remains to be 
done. I shall therefore only announce as distinctly as may be, 
a few affirmative propositions applicable to this inquiry, and then 
relieve my readers from their wearisome task. 

The first proposition as to the manner in which the claims 
of animal magnetism are to be met and discussed, is, that it 
should be done with unprejudiced, impartial and candid minds, 
and with a sincere love of truth. Prejudice is always a great 
and sometimes an invincible obstacle to the acquisition of correct 
knowledge on any subject. The mind which is prepossessed by 
it, views facts and evidence through a distorting medium, and 
weighs them in an uneven balance. The very first requisite, 
therefore, to successful investigation is impartiality, and a sin- 
cere disposition to view every fact in its simplicity, and to give to 
every kind and degree of evidence its due weight and impor- 
tance. But this state of mind is not all that is necessary. There 
must be, 

Secondly. An active desire to ascertain where to learn facts, 
to seek evidence, and to follow wherever, and to whatever con- 
clusion that evidence may lead. A mere passive state of mind, 
however impartial and candid it may be, is not enough. The 
maxim, that * truth is great and will prevail,' is correct only in 
a restricted sense. It is often unable to prevail over obstinate 
prejudice, and it possesses no inherent energy and activity by 



71 

which it can force its way into the passive and indolent mind. 
It must be loved and sought and wooed in order to be won. 

Thirdly. The lovers of truth in this matter should make the 
investigation of it a common cause. They should therefore be 
solicitous to receive and communicate, fully and freely, all the 
light and evidence which they respectively possess. The insu- 
lated experiments of a few individuals, pursuing their investiga- 
tions in secrecy and silence, may do something ; but if they hide 
their light under a bushel, and refuse to communicate or receive 
aid, their success will be comparatively small and their progress 
slow. 

Fourthly. The great' object, in the present state of the in- 
quiry, should be to ascertain and establish facts, in all their na- 
kedness and simplicity. All theories, all preconceived opinions, 
all speculations about causes, should, as far as possible, be dis- 
carded. Let facts, numerous facts, — -facts in all their multiplied 
forms and varieties, be first settled, and then let those who will, 
form theories and systems to account for them. These may be 
useful for some purposes, but at present we are not prepared for 
them. All science consists exclusively in a knowledge of facts. 
We even learn the laws of nature, about which we hear so much, 
only from the facts of nature. Those laws are not, in general, 
revealed to us by instinct, intuition or inspiration, but by a slow 
and careful induction of numerous particular facts. Let facts 
then, at least for the present, be the exclusive objects of attention 
and research. 

These are the principal rules which I have wished to enforce 
as to the manner and spirit in which the claims of animal mag- 
netism should be met and examined. They are equally applica- 
ble to investigations on all other questions of natural science, and 
I should not have thought it necessary to allude to such obvious 
principles, had I not some reason to fear that they had been over- 
looked in their application to this particular subject. 

I now proceed to make a few remarks as to the nature and 
sources of the evidence to be required to establish the reality of 
animal magnetism. From the preceding observations it may be 
perceived that facts are the only sure basis of knowledge, and 
should therefore be the primary objects of attention. The in- 
quiry is, then, what is the nature, or what are the sources of 
evidence in support of the facts and phenomena of the magnetic 
influence ? The answer is plain and simple. They are and can 
be only the three following. 

First. Our own personal experience. If we have person- 
ally felt and exercised the magnetic power, by being effectually 
magnetised ourselves or by having magnetised others, under cir- 
cumstances which preclude all suspicion of deception or delu- 
sion, we then have evidence, irresistible and conclusive to our 
own minds, of the reality of its agency. Any two persons can 



72 

try this experiment. If successful, it will satisfactorily establish 
the affirmative of the question in debate. If unsuccessful, it will 
not conclusively prove the negative, because one or both of them 
may be destitute of the susceptibility or power of the magnetic 
influence. There is another source of evidence. 

Secondly. Personal observation of experiments upon and 
by others. The effect of this kind of evidence will be propor- 
tioned to the number and character of the parties and the nature 
and variety of the experiments. They may be equivocal, or 
they may be such as to preclude all doubt. But our personal 
experience and our opportunities of personal observation must be 
limited, and consequently our knowledge of facts, derived from 
these sources may be less extensive than might be wished. 
There is, then, one other source of evidence to supply this de- 
ficiency. It is, 

Thirdly. The testimony of others as to their experience 
and observation. This presents an extensive field of inquiry 
and if faithfully cultivated, it may yield much fruit. It is a very 
important source of evidence, and means should be adopted to 
enable us to reap all its benefits. This may be by conversation, 
by epistolary correspondence, or by a publication, for general in- 
formation, of all well authenticated facts and phenomena which 
may be discovered. The testimony of witnesses thus obtained, 
as to facts, may be as satisfactory as the evidence of our own 
senses and observation, and therefore should not be rejected or 
disregarded, but diligently collected and faithfully applied. 

*$£* ^fc •£& ^& •& ^ 

•7? "fc */v* *7T* '7V' *7^ 

I would, in conclusion, recommend to those who are inter- 
ested in this question, and who believe that the affirmative of it 
may possibly be true, to form themselves into a class or classes 
of convenient numbers, for the purpose of making experiments 
and keeping a record of all the facts and phenomena which may 
occur. The record should contain a statement of every experi- 
ment which should be made, whether successful or unsuccessful; 
of the ages, health and temperament of the parties, and of the 
simple facts and phenomena, if any, that should occur. The 
record of these experiments and phenomena, should, from time 
to time, be revised, arranged under appropriate heads, and a com- 
plete synopsis of them prepared, for easy reference. The report 
of the late commissioners of the Royal Society of Medicine in 
Paris on this subject, may be recommended as a model of the 
form in which such experiments should be tried and their results 
stated. A correspondence with other classes or individuals en- 
gaged in similar experiments might also be carried on with great 
mutual advantage. An authentic repository of facts may thus 
be formed, which will do more towards settling the question in 
debate than can be done by all the logomachy of a thousand 
talkers, whether objectors or advocates, in a whole century. 

ENQUIRER. 



*5£fc 



JUMoAJn, 



LETTER TO COL. WM. L. STONE, 



OF NEW YORK, 



ON THE FACTS BELATED IN HIS 



LETTER TO DR. BRIGHAM 



AND A PLAIN 



REFUTATION OF DURANT'S EXPOSITION 



OP 



ANIMAL MAGNETISM, &c. 



v. 



BY CHARLES POYEN. 



WITH 

REMARKS ON THE MANNER IN WHICH THE CLAIMS OF 

ANIMAL MAGNETISM SHOULD BE MET AND 

DISCUSSED. 

BY A MEMBER OP THE MASSACHUSETTS BENCH. 



BOSTON: 
WEEKS, JORDAN AND COMPANY, 

12L Washington Street. 

NEW YORK; — C. SHEPARD. 

1837. 



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PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 



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